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Earnings from merchandise exports significantly rebounded in August by 14 per cent year-on- year to reach $3.38 billion, buoyed by garment shipments, particularly knitwear items.
The earnings in August 2020 was $2.96 billion, according to data from Export Promotion Bureau (EPB).
Yet overall earnings was still down 0.31 per cent year-on-year to $6.87 billion in the July-August period of the current fiscal year.
And earnings from the fiscal’s first two months was 7.8 per cent behind the target of $7.44 billion set by the government, said the EPB data.
During the July-August period, earnings from garment shipment, which typically contributes 84 per cent of national exports, decreased by 1.2 per cent to $5.64 billion compared to that in the same period a year ago. Of the total earnings from apparel shipment, $3.25 billion came from knitwear, registering a 4.6 per cent year-on-year growth.
Meanwhile, earnings from woven declined by 8 per cent year-on-year to $2.38 billion because of a lower demand for formal dresses amidst the pandemic lockdown.
Knitwear shipment increased 17 per cent while woven by 4.4 per cent and overall garment shipment grew by nearly 12 per cent in August of this year compared with the same month last year, said the EPB data.
Exporters said the shipment of knitwear fared better than that of woven because demand for the former increased worldwide due to longer stays of people at home for the pandemic.
Shahidullah Azim, vice president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), said woven shipments were struggling for revival but performed better compared with that last year.
The feeble trend of woven exports will continue for the next two or three months as still people are preferring casual dresses at homes and offices, he said.
Once the offices start running operations in full, demand for woven or formal dresses will also increase all over the world, he said.
About the poor performance of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, Azim said it took more time to export goods through this important airport compared to airports worldwide.
Similarly, the Chattogram seaport was still performing poorly, holding back exporters’ competitiveness in the global garment business, he said.
“We need simplified business rules for becoming more competitive worldwide,” Azim also said.
Mohammad Hatem, first vice president of the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA), echoed Azim. He said they received more work orders than expectations from international retailers and brands for the next season in tune with the reopening of economies in the western world.
However, the high yarn prices in the local market is detrimentally affecting the garment sector despite the unexpected rise in work orders, he said.
The spinners should not increase yarn price rate from the $4.20 per kilogramme promised last week, Hatem also said.
During the July-August period, earnings from live and frozen fish grew by 18 per cent to $87.97 million, leather and leather goods by 13 per cent to $174.71 million and home textile export by 4 per cent to $175.06 million, said the data.
However, jute and jute goods export declined by 35 per cent to $127.67 million, said the data.
(TDS)
