Bangladesh鈥檚 apparel exports to the United States continued to experience double-digit negative growth over the months, while competing countries have steadily decreased their negative growth rates on the same market.
The country鈥檚 readymade garment exports to the US, the largest export market for Bangladesh, in the first five months or January-May period of 2024 declined by 12.31 per cent in value and fell by 622 per cent in quantity, according to the data from the Office of Textiles and Apparel under the US Department of Commerce, released on Wednesday.聽聽
Data showed that Bangladesh鈥檚 apparel exports to the US in the first five months of 2024 dropped to $2.90 billion from $3.31 billion in the same period of 2023.
In quantity, Bangladesh鈥檚 RMG exports in January-May of 2024 decreased to 956.55 million square metres compared to 1.01 billion square metres in the same period of the previous year.
Exporters said that Bangladesh was struggling to keep pace with its competitors in the US and other major markets due to a severe energy crisis, high utility costs, rising production expenses, extended lead times and cumbersome customs procedures.
Although overall apparel imports of the US declined due to the global economic slowdown, China and Vietnam started to gain their share on the market in recent months due to their short shipment times, they said.
The OTEXA data showed that Bangladesh鈥檚 cotton apparel exports in the first five months of 2024 to the US declined by 9.56 per cent to $2.01 billion while the shipment of RMG made with man-made fibre decreased by 21.85 per cent to $755.08 million.
Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association executive president Mohammad Hatem said that Bangladesh鈥檚 competitiveness in major markets was declining, primarily due to increased production costs in the apparel sector stemming from higher utility bills and wages for workers.
He also underscored long lead times as another significant factor contributing to Bangladesh lagging behind its competitors.
According to Hatem, most factories were operating at 60-70 per cent capacity due to power and gas shortages, resulting in an additional delay of 20-25 days in completing finished goods.
Due to complex customs procedures and the absence of its own deep-sea port, Bangladesh typically faces delays in exporting shipments, now averaging 70-90 days due to production delays, he added.
Data showed that overall US apparel imports in the first five months of 2024 fell by 6.0 per cent to $29.62 billion, down from $31.51 billion in the same period of 2023.
Apparel imports by the US from Vietnam in January-May of 2024 fell by 1.18 per cent to $5.41 billion from $5.49 billion in the same period of 2023.
Cambodia鈥檚 RMG exports to the US grew by 7.75 per cent to $1.28 billion in January-May period of 2024 compared with that of $1.19 billion in the same period of 2023.
India鈥檚 RMG exports to the US in the first five months of 2024 declined by 2.06 per cent to $2.09 billion while that of Indonesia experienced a 10.49 per cent drop to $1.65 billion during the same period.
