Welcome to Business Outlook
Related Articles
The country’s exports jumped 31.25 per cent year-on-year to $4.04 billion in November, propelled by robust growth in apparel shipments and modest growth in other sectors.
Exports stood at $3.57 billion in November 2020, provisional data of the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) showed on Thursday.
The apparel sector fetched $3.23 billion in November. RMG exports rose by 32.34 per cent with a 33.05 per cent knitwear export growth and a 31.48 per cent rise in the export woven items.
However, November’s export income is around $686 million lower than that of October this year. In October, Bangladesh posted an exceptional export growth of around 60 per cent to $4.73 billion, the highest-ever export recorded in a single month.
The latest export data published by EPB for the period Jul-Nov of FY2021-22 shows 22.9 per cent growth in RMG export, compared to Jul-Nov of FY2020-21.
Despite the 32 per cent growth in RMG exports, the value for November exports stood at $3.24 billion, which means that export in November 2020 was much less at $2.44 billion, BGMEA leaders said.
The apparel export value accommodated the inflation of input cost as the price of the raw materials including textile, dyes and chemicals has gone up with a big jump in freight cost, they explained.
Though the RMG growth trend in the past three months looks promising, this might be a short-lived phenomenon as the consumption and demand for clothing has seen an extraordinary surge in the recent months, according to industry insiders.
“In October, RMG exports hit $3.5 billion, which slipped to $3.2 billion in November, although, we don’t usually compare the export performance between consecutive months of the same year,” Mohiuddin Rubel, a director of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), said.
“So obviously export value accommodates the inflation of input cost, so the export growth is rather nominal, not absolute,” he said, pointing to production cost escalation.
“However, looking at the bigger picture, it seems that the recovery from the pandemic is yet to see solid progress. The new variants are emerging and the global economy is witnessing immediate shocks,” he added.
Buyers, who are following a cautious step since the first wave of the pandemic, will certainly be more cautious now. Particularly Europe will take more time to recover from the retail industry slowdown, which is worrying for Bangladesh. If an upcoming Christmas sale is affected, this will have an adverse impact in the coming months, BGMEA leaders informed.
“So while we are gaining confidence from the export performance in recent months, we should not be complacent. We should rather be extra careful before making any aggressive business decision at this moment by just looking at the stronger trend in growth because the situation is fluid now,” Rubel added.
(DS)
