'Repeat orders' for knitwear items slip

Repeat orders for fashionable knitwear items recorded a drop last month as the global economic meltdown hit retail sales in the US and Europe, said a representative of Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) yesterday.
Normally buyers place further orders after placing the initial orders, but the rate of such order placement, mainly for fashionable items has dropped, AKM Zahidul Hoq Bhuiya, vice-president of BKMEA, said at a discussion.
A garment workers platform, Garment Sramik and Shilpa Rakkha Jatiya Mancha, organised the programme at the Dhaka Reporters Unity where MM Akash, professor of economics of Dhaka University, Prof Abul Barkat, Sajjad Alam Tapu, general secretary of Economic Reporters Forum and workers' representatives spoke.
The discussion focused on the impact from the global financial turmoil on the lives and livelihoods of about 2.5 million apparel industry workers.
“Overall orders in October are low compared to the previous year,” said Bhuiya, also managing director of Victory Knittings Pvt Ltd.
The disclosure came a day after the official data showed that knitwear exports had posted a 52.84 percent rise to $1,210.14 million in the July-August period of fiscal 2008-09 from $791.79 million a year ago.
Apparel makers claimed that buyers were delaying orders for shipment and cutting down the volume of buying as the global credit crisis started affecting retail sales after consumer spending slumped on recession fears.
The September data showed retail sales in the US, one of the biggest markets for Bangladesh's lifeline apparel industry, fell by double digits, according to The New York Times.
Retail sales in Europe, another big market for Bangladesh knitwear, also slid on concerns the financial crisis will tip the economy into a recession.
“If the buying capacity of consumers in destination markets erodes, it will affect us although we penetrate the low-priced segment of the clothing market," Bhuiya said.
“If this trend prolongs and factories suffer losses, I'm afraid workers, particularly casual ones, will be the first victim,” he said. "There will be a cut in overtime payment and, maybe, lay-offs in the long run.”
Prof MM Akash, however, observed that the sector would be able to weather any short-lived "storm".