Anisul Islam Noor :
The country exported leather and leather goods with $ 111.90 crore in the fiscal 2013-14, marking an increase by 27 percent. The amount of export was $ 98 crore in the fiscal 2012-13, Export Promotion Bureau sources said.
The exported finished leather during the fiscal 2013-14 amounted to $50.5 crore, (growth 26.47%), footwear $37.85 crore (growth 18.78%) and leather goods $24 crore (growth 48.55%).
The leather industry has crossed the record $ one billion mark in exports in the first 10 months of the fiscal year. Between July ’13 and April ’14, the leather industry exported $1.06 billion of products.
Engineer Abu Taher, Chairman of Bangladesh Finished Leather, Leather goods and Footwear Exporters’ Association, credited the spike in orders and the competitive pricing.
He said that the sector would be able to earn as much as $2 billion in the next fiscal if the present trend continues.
Mohammed Nazmul Hassan Sohail, Managing Director of Leatherex Footwear Industry Ltd, a leading leather goods exporter, said that the export figures would have been much higher if political unrest had not hurt the sector last year.
Md Saiful Islam, Senior Vice-President of Leather goods and Footwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association, said that the improved quality also helped winning the confidence of buyers.
Many leather goods and footwear makers are producing high quality products targeting the middle and higher end segments of the market, which ultimately helps in earning more in unit price, said Saiful Islam.
Proper delivery as per contract is another reason for the increase in export earnings, according to Md Abdul Hai, General Secretary of Bangladesh Tanners Association. “We can ship goods in time as there is no labour unrest in the leather industry.”
Bangladesh exports leather products mainly to Italy, New Zealand, Poland, the UK, Belgium, France, Germany, the US, Canada and Spain.
Besides, Japan, India, Nepal, Australia and some other countries are emerging as potential import partners of Bangladeshi leather goods.
Bangladesh now exports only 0.5 percent of the global leather and leather goods worth $215 billion, according to industry insiders.
The country will be able to earn at least $5 billion in exports from leather, leather goods and footwear in the next decade if it can properly address health, environment and compliance issues in the sector.
