US provides silver lining for garment exporters
Bangladesh’s apparel shipments to the US, its main export destination, edged up in the first 11 months of 2019 -- a heartening development given the inclement condition on the export front.
Between the months of July and December last year, Bangladesh’s apparel shipments fell 6.21 percent to $16.02 billion, according to data from the Export Promotion Bureau.
But exports to the US fetched $5.69 billion, up 9.47 percent from a year earlier, according to data from the Office of Textiles and Apparel (OTEXA).
“Primarily, the tariff war between the US and China played a vital role in raising the shipments to the US,” said Rubana Huq, president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA).
Furthermore, China, the largest apparel supplier to the US, saw its shipments slump during the period, in what can be viewed as a direct impact of the 25 percent tariff slapped by the Trump administration in May last year.
However, garment shipments from India and Vietnam, both Bangladesh’s competitor in global apparel trade, grew to $7.43 billion and $13.35 billion respectively.
“The US’s total imports from the world is declining since September, whereas it is increasing from Bangladesh. Vietnam’s export growth to the US is faltering. That’s the only piece of good news,” Huq said.
The first half was positive, but the second half saw a collapse.
“We can’t predict any increase based on previous growth. The current trend should be taken into consideration.”
And shipments to the US increased just nominally in the first two weeks of 2020, according to the BGMEA president.
The average price of Bangladeshi garment products though decreased 4.50 percent: it was $13.74, down from $14.39 a year earlier.
Earnings from garment exports is on the slow lane for appreciation of taka against the dollar, lack of diversified products and rise of other competing countries, particularly of Vietnam and Cambodia.
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