Special Correspondent :
Export of woven garments has been declining since August last year amid plummeting demands in global market.
In fiscal 2019-20, garment exports fell by 18.12 per cent year on year to $27.94 billion. Of the earning from garments, $13.9 billion came from knitwear shipments and $14.04 billion from woven, according to data from the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB).
However, knitwear exports dropped by 17.65 per cent and woven fell by 18.58 per cent year on year in last fiscal year, the EPB data said.
Besides, export earnings from the woven garments shipment dropped 10.58 per cent during the first seven months (July-January) of the current fiscal year (2020-21).
“The fall in export earning was mainly because of plummeting demands in the major export markets amid Covid-19 pandemic,” said Mohammad Hatem, senior vice-president of the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association.
He said exporters have to rely heavily on import of fabrics to produce finished woven garment products due to lack of effective backward linkage industry which is playing a vital role in the garment industry to reduce lead time and offer competitive price in the international market.
“At present around 50 per cent of the demand for woven fabric in local RMG factories have to be met through imports. It entails lot of time and money, and thus makes our products uncompetitive in global markets,” he said, adding, “The lead time for local RMG manufactures would have decreased considerably if the fabric were produced locally through enhanced investments in the sector.”
Mohammad Hatem also said that the prices of knitwear items made in Bangladesh were lower compared to those in other countries because Bangladesh has already developed backward linkages to feed the knitwear manufacturing units.
He mentioned export of knitwear garments posted a 3.84 per cent growth in the first seven months of the current fiscal as buyers have continued their business with Bangladesh even during the pandemic taking advantage of a shorter lead time and competitiveness.
“An extended homestay by people of Europe and America during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic raises the demand for casual cotton t-shirts in the international markets helping to increase export of knitwear items from Bangladesh,” he added.
Former BGMEA Vice-President Faruque Hassan said, knitwear exporters can source some 85 to 90 per cent of their input of yarn and fabrics from local textile producers whereas it is uneven for woven exporters who can hardly source 35 to 40 per cent of their inputs from locally.
“There is a huge supply constrain in woven garments manufacturing. Without much reliance on domestic supplies of intermediate inputs (fabrics) and ‘man-made fibre’ it would be difficult to exploit export market and sustain export growth of woven garments,” he added.
Faruque Hassan, Managing Director of Giant Group, also noted that the government as well as textile entrepreneurs should take initiatives on an urgent basis for boosting investment on backward linkage industries and focus on product development in a bid to sustain global exposure of domestic apparel industry.
