Rapid urbanisation no impediment to lungi market expansion

Exports of locally made lungis, a widely used everyday garb for southeast Asian men, have been rising rapidly because of the increasing Bangladeshi diaspora worldwide while the local market has also been on an upward curve due to Bangladesh's growing population, industry insiders said.

The domestic lungi market is worth nearly Tk 15,000 crore per annum while local manufacturers export lungis worth more than $1 million a year.

But even five years ago, the domestic market for lungis was worth Tk 10,000 crore a year while exports only amounted to a few lakh US dollars, they added.

In recent years, India has turned into a major export destination for Bangladeshi lungis due to higher demand for cotton yarn lungis and because of the shared culture of wearing lungis.

Moreover, lungis worth more than Tk 1,200 crore are shipped informally, mainly to Malaysia and Indonesia, exporters said.

Despite rapid urbanisation, which impacts culture and the preferred type of attire, the domestic lungi market is growing by more than 10 percent per year.

Illustrating the impact of urbanisation is the fact that most city dwellers prefer to wear trousers to lungis and, coupled with the fact that trousers last longer than lungis, this affects the lungi market.

As a result, the demand for lungis in urban areas is lower than in rural areas. But this can also be attributed to the fact that lungis are still the main attire for people in rural areas.

Internationally, lungis are shipped to at least 25 countries, with major consumers being expatriate Bangladeshis in nations like Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Singapore, Dubai, Malaysia, Bahrain, England, Germany, the US, India, Myanmar and Indonesia.

However, Dilip Kumar Saha, managing director of Alauddin Textile Mills (ATM) Private Ltd, said many small and medium enterprises had stopped production of lungis because of rising prices of yarn.

The demand for lungis made from yarn is higher both locally and among expatriate Bangladeshis, Saha added.

Nearly two crore Bangladeshis live abroad and almost all of them have at least one lungi. Many request to send them lungis through relatives or via e-commerce companies, Saha also said.

Emdadul Kabir Siddique, chief executive officer of Amanat Shah Group, a major lungi manufacturer and exporter, echoed Saha's views.

Siddique said the lungi market is expanding gradually, maintaining a 10 percent year-on-year growth.

And given the growth of the lungi market, the number of spinning mills that are producing yarn for lungi production is also growing, he said.

He added that four major spinning mills were currently producing yarn for the manufacture of lungis.

Bangladesh Lungi Manufacturers, Traders and Exporters Association (BLMTEA) has nearly 250 members while producers across the country number more than 10,000, said Siddique, also secretary of the BLMTEA.

Major lungi-making hubs in the nation are Narsingdi, Nawabganj, Sirajganj, Ruhitpur, Pabna, Gausia, Baburhaat and Narayanganj.

However, the method of production has shifted from handlooms to powerlooms because the cost of production using the latter is lower, he added.

Md Khorshed Alam, chairman of the standing committee of the development of local spinning and weaving mills department of Bangladesh Textile Manufacturers Association, said lungis are a diversified export item.

The shipment of lungi is growing every year and a few local companies are performing well in terms of export because of high demand, he said.

Alam also said more than seven crore, out of nine crore, males in Bangladesh regularly buy and wear lungis.

However, the fact that urbanites wear both trousers and lungis has impacted sales a bit, although those in rural areas continue to wear lungis as their main attire, he added.

More than 60,000 weavers are directly involved in lungi production but the number is far greater when those indirectly involved are counted.

The shortage of gas supply to the industrial units and rising cost of gas have also increased the cost of production in the primary textile sector in the country, Alam said.