Bangladesh鈥檚 apparel exports to the United States suffered the largest decline among the competing countries in January-August period of 2024.
The country鈥檚 apparel exports to the US, the largest export destination for Bangladesh, declined by 9.16 per cent in value and by 3.86 per cent in volume in the first eight months of 2024, according to the Office of Textiles and Apparel under the US Department of Commerce data released on Wednesday.
Exporters said that challenges like rising production costs and extended lead times had contributed to a decline in Bangladesh鈥檚 exports to the US market.
The country鈥檚 apparel exports to the US in January-June period of 2024 declined to $4.71 billion compared with that of $5.18 billion in the same period of 2023.
In terms of volume, Bangladesh exported 1.52 billion square metres of apparel from January to August period of 2024, a 3.86 per cent decrease from 1.58 billion square metres exported in the same period of the previous year.
The US apparel imports from Vietnam experienced a slight decline of 1.06 per cent, totalling $9.56 billion in the first eight months of 2024, down from $9.66 billion in the same period of 2023.
The data showed that China continued to be the largest supplier of apparel to the US market, although it saw a slight decline in January-August of 2024.
The US apparel imports in the eight months of 2924 fell by 2.98 per cent to $10.69 billion compared with those of $11.02 billion in the same period of the previous year.
According to the OTEXA data, while the total value of US apparel imports in January-August 2024 declined, the volume saw a slight increase compared with the same period in the previous year.聽
The overall US apparel imports in the eight months of 2024 declined by 4.11 per cent or $2.2 billion to $51.30 billion, down from $53.50 billion in the same period of 2023.
In terms of volume, the overall US apparel imports increased by 1.41 per cent to $16.71 billion square metres in the first eight months of 2024, rising from $16.48 billion square metres in the same period of 2023.
The data showed that Bangladesh鈥檚 position remained unchanged as the third-largest apparel exporter to the US market with 9 per cent share while China and Vietnam occupied the first and the second highest positions with 21.18 per cent and 18.59 per cent share respectively.
India and Indonesia were also facing declines in apparel shipments to the US in the first eight months of 2024.
The data showed that the US readymade garment imports from India in January-August of 2024 decreased to $3.21 billion compared with those of $3.26 billion in the same period of the previous year.
The apparel imports by the US from Indonesia in the first eight months of 2024 dropped by 7.16 per cent to $2.68 billion compared with those of $2.89 billion in the same period of 2023.聽
However, Cambodia and Pakistan stood out with positive growth rates of 3.89 per cent and 1.06 per cent respectively, demonstrating resilience in their export performance in the US market in the January-August period of 2024.
Apparel imports from Cambodia to the US in the first eight months of 2024 rose to $2.29 billion, up from $2.21 billion in the same period of 2023, according to the OTEXA data.
Pakistan鈥檚 readymade garment exports to the US increased to $1.39 billion in the January-August of 2024 compared with those of $1.37 billion in the same period of 2023.
