Workers in Khulna blocked a major highway on Tuesday morning demanding withdrawal of conditions imposed on raw jute exports and payment of overdue wages. The protest took place at Daulatpur Railgate intersection, where demonstrators set tires on fire and erected barricades, halting traffic. Organized under the banner of the Daulatpur Jute Press and Baling Workers’ Union, the protesters marched to the Bangladesh Jute Association (BJA) building and staged a sit-in. Some participants threw bricks and vandalized property before police and union leaders restored order.

Union leaders said the export restrictions, introduced on 8 September 2025, had plunged the jute sector into crisis, leaving many workers jobless for nine months. The BJA had earlier announced the protest at a press conference, arguing that the Ministry of Commerce’s decision to list raw jute as a conditional export item effectively halted exports. According to BJA Chairman Khandaker Alamgir Kabir, the policy caused severe financial losses to exporters and unemployment for thousands of workers.

The BJA claimed that despite sufficient domestic supply, Bangladesh could export 800,000–1,000,000 bales of raw jute annually, earning up to Tk 20 billion, but exports dropped sharply under the new restrictions.