Artikel

De Westeuropese jutenijverheid en de Zuidoost-Aziatische concurrentiedruk

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Abstract

The West European Jute Industry and the competitive pressure from South East Asia - The jute industry is undoubtedly one of the best examples of an industry where the economic intrest between developing and industrial countries is very divergent. The South East Asian producers, India and Pakistan, try to use their raw material monopoly as a base for their industrial development through a policy mixture of import substitution and export promotion. This brings them into conflict with the EEC-countries and Great Britain where the jute manufacturing industry is of regional importance and where the traditional interests cannot simply be ignored. The first part of the article describes the decline of the monopolistic position of India and Pakistan because of the rise of other natural fibres (e.g. kenaf in Thailand) and especially of synthetics. The implications for the developing and industrial countries of these developments as well as of the structural changes in demand for jute products are briefly discussed. The competitive pressure of India and Pakistan on Western Europe is then illustrated by means of production, export and consumption figures. In the second part the author tries to answer the question whether the decline of the West Europe an jute industry is due to external or internal causes. It is concluded that the policy measures responsible for the so-called abnormal competition by developing countries should not be judged independently but in the context of the overall economic situation of the country concerned. An appreciation of the Pakistan Export Bonus Scheme for example should take the overvaluation of the Pakistan rupee into account. Largely responsible for the decline of the Western Europe jute industry is the relatively weak structure and research activity of the European industry itself. A comparison between the West European countries and the developing countries shows a more favourable situation in South East Asia as far as the number of integrated enterprises, average size and capital intensity is concerned. Although labour productivity is a lot higher in Western Europe than in the South East Asian countries, it is insufficient to compensate for the disadvantages of lower wage costs and less expensive procurement of raw materials. After all, productivity is only one component of the production cost. The question of the necessity of protection of the jute industry in Western Europe is treated in the third part. It is noted that high protection of the jute industry in the EEC and Great Britain does not seem to be sufficient to isolate the European internal markets. Protection in Western Europe is especially high when measured in terms of effective protection rates instead of nominal rates. After the arguments advanced for protection of the Western European jute industry have been dealt with, it is concluded that a compromise solution is necessary. An agreement between the West European and South East Asian countries along the lines of the International Cotton Agreement is to be preferred. Such an agreement should guarantee the liberalisation of the international trade in jute products while giving time to European industrialists to adapt themselves to new situations. An International Jute Agreement should however be concluded for a longer period and offer more safeguards as to the stages and irreversibility of the liberalisation process.

How to Cite:

Van Den Bulcke, D., (1970) “De Westeuropese jutenijverheid en de Zuidoost-Aziatische concurrentiedruk”, Tijdschrift voor Sociale Wetenschappen 15(3), 342–370. doi: https://doi.org/10.21825/tvsw.95864