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Bangladesh’s apparel exports to the United States in 2020 fell by 11.73 per cent to $5.23 billion from $5.92 billion in 2019 due to a fall in consumption in the world’s largest economy amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The country’s readymade garment exports to the US in 2020 decreased by $695 million in value and 120 million square metres in quantity compared with that in 2019, according to the US Department of Commerce’s Office of Textiles and Apparel data.
Bangladesh’s RMG exports to the US in 2020 fell by 5.98 per cent to 1.89 billion square metres from 2.01 billion square metres in 2019.
The data showed that the apparel import by the US from the world in 2020 dropped by 23.46 per cent to $64.07 billion from $83.70 billion in the previous year.
Exporters said that the outbreak of COVID-19 shattered the whole world and retail sales and demand in the western world came down to their worst-ever levels.
‘If we look at the data more minutely and take into account the growth for the last six months of 2020, which indicates the possible impact of the second wave of COVID-19, Bangladesh’s performance looks more challenged,’ Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association president Rubana Huq told New Age on Saturday.
According to the data, Bangladesh’s RMG exports to the US in December 2020 grew by 5.5 per cent in volume (million square metres) but the export value declined by 13 per cent compared with that in the same month of 2019.
The US apparel imports from Bangladesh in December 2020 decreased by $56.17 million to $361.88 million from $418.057 million in the same month in 2019.
Bangladesh’s apparel exports to the US in December 2020 grew by 8.09 million square metres to 155.33 million square metres from 147.30 million square metres in the same month of 2019.
In July-December 2020, the US apparel imports from Bangladesh declined by 3.19 per cent year-on-year, Rubana said.
Even though during that time the US global apparel imports dropped by 17.25 per cent, the imports from Cambodia and Pakistan puffed up with positive growth of 6.89 per cent and 8.16 per cent respectively, the BGMEA president said.
Rubana said that the US apparel imports from Vietnam decreased by 7.25 per cent but with 11.73 per cent negative growth, Bangladesh was holding a very shaky position compared with its fellow opponents.
The US apparel imports from China in 2020 declined by 39.16 per cent to $15.15 billion from $24.91 billion in 2019.
Vietnam’s apparel exports to the US in 2020 fell to $12.57 billion from $13.55 billion in 2019.
Cambodia’s RMG exports to the US in 2020, however, increased by 5.45 per cent, or $146 million, to $2.82 billion from $2.67 billion in the 2019, the data showed.
The US apparel imports from India in the past year fell by 25.58 per cent to $3.02 billion from $4.05 billion in 2029.
