Bangladesh performed worse than other competing countries in terms of growth of readymade garment exports to the United States in the first half of 2024.
The country鈥檚 apparel exports to the US, the largest export destination for Bangladesh, declined by 10.97 per cent to $3.40 billion in January-June period of 2024 compared with that of $3.82 billion in the same period of 2023, according to data released by the Office of Textiles and Apparel under the US Department of Commerce.
In terms of volume, Bangladesh exported 1.11 billion square metres of apparel from January to June period of 2024, a 5.0 per cent decrease from 1.17 billion square metres exported during the same period of the previous year.聽
Exporters attributed the decline in market share in the US to long lead times, unreliable energy supplies and high business costs.
The US鈥� apparel imports from Vietnam totalled $6.58 billion in January-June 2024, reflecting a 2.31 per cent year-over-year decrease, according to the OTEXA data released on August 6.
During the same period, China鈥檚 apparel exports to the US fell by 6.37 per cent to $6.81 billion.
The OTEXA data also showed that overall US apparel imports declined by 6.04 per cent to $35.74 billion in the first half of 2024, down from $38.04 billion in the same period of 2023.
Exporters said that that they were facing gas and electricity issues, which was hindering factories from operating at full capacity.
Additionally, increased Chinese investment in Vietnam has enabled the country to benefit from China鈥檚 shifting focus, resulting in a rise in Vietnamese exports to the US market, they said.
The OTEXA data revealed that the US鈥� apparel imports from Cambodia grew by 4.45 per cent to $1.52 billion in January-June 2024 compared to the same period in 2023.
Conversely, India鈥檚 RMG exports to the US market decreased by 2.64 per cent to $2.44 billion, while that of Indonesia experienced a 9.75 per cent drop to $1.91 billion during the same period.
