Al Amin :
Bangladeshi apparel exports to the USA and the EU countries increased in the outgoing fiscal year amid growing concern due to war between Russia and Ukraine.
According to country-wise export data of the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), the USA remained the top apparel export destination for Bangladesh. The country’s export to USA reached $9.01 billion with 51.57 per cent year-on-year growth.
On the other hand, the apparel exports to the EU countries, the largest apparel importer in the world, increased by 33.87 per cent to $21.04 billion in the outgoing fiscal year (2021-22) from $15.99 billion in fiscal year 2020-21.
“The achievement of $42 billion in the export of readymade garments is very positive and the amount will give us extra courage. However, there are questions about the future of garment exports,” said Fazlul Haque, former President of Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA).
“We have to face four challenges-reduction of purchasing orders, decline in apparel prices for reducing of raw materials’ price, high inflation in major destinations for Russia-Ukraine war and gas-electricity crisis in the country-in day to comes,” he said.
Germany, the largest apparel export market for Bangladesh in EU region, showed 27.74 per cent year-on-year growth. Bangladesh exported 7.16 billion dollars’ worth of apparel to the country.
The exports to other major EU markets Spain, France, Italy, Poland, and Netherland have shown strong positive growth. Our export to U.K. and Canada also grew by 30.56 per cent and 33.22 per cent respectively.
At the same time, the year-on-year comparison showed that the export to the non-traditional market increased by 25.40 per cent in immediate past fiscal year.
Among the major non-traditional markets, China and Russia have shown negative growth 18.04 per cent and 1.67 per cent respectively.
Mohiuddin Rubel, Director of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) told The New Nation, “Even though the overall export in our major markets has shown a positive growth trend yet, in the post-Covid world and geo-political tension created by the Ukraine conflict, trade dynamics will see a sharp shift in coming days.”
“The global economy and trade are also showing a depressing outlook ahead, which is a concern for us. So we should not be
overwhelmed, rather need to be cautiously optimistic,” he added.
He further said, “The Covid-19 pandemic has left a deep scar on our industry, despite positive export growth in the outgoing fiscal year. Many apparel factories have been forced to do shipment with discounted and delay payment. Some other brands have not paid against their purchasing orders as they have become bankrupt.”
“Along with this, on the one hand, prices of fuel oil and food items are getting costlier due to the going war between Russia and Ukraine. On the other hand, the risk of recession in many countries including EU is increasing. These factors are likely to impact on the RMG export,” Rubel said.
