Bangladesh’s apparel exports to the United States suffered significantly, recording the largest decline among the competing countries in January-August period of 2024.

The country’s apparel exports to the US, the largest export destination for Bangladesh, declined in both the value and volume by 9.16 per cent and 3.86 per cent in the first eight months of 2024, according to the Office of Textiles and Apparel under the US Department of Commerce data released on Wednesday.

Exporters said that challenges like rising production costs and extended lead times have contributed to a decline in Bangladesh’s exports to the US market.

The country’s apparel exports to the US in January-June period of 2024 declined to $4.71 billion compared with that of $5.18 billion in the same period of 2023.

In terms of volume, Bangladesh exported 1.52 billion square metres of apparel from January to August period of 2024, a 3.86 per cent decrease from 1.58 billion square metres exported during the same period of the previous year.

The US apparel imports from Vietnam experienced a slight decline of 1.06 per cent, totaling $9.56 billion in the first eight months of 2024, down from $9.66 billion during the same period in 2023.

Data showed that China continued to be the largest supplier of apparel to the US market, although it has seen a slight decline in January-August period of 2024.

The US apparel imports from China in the eight months of 2924 fell by 2.98 per cent to $10.69 billion from $11.02 billion in the same period of previous year.

According to Otexa data, while the total value of US apparel imports from January to August 2024 declined, the volume saw a slight increase compared to the same period in the previous year.

The overall US apparel imports in eight months of 2024 declined by 4.11 per cent or $2.2 billion to $51.30 billion, down from $53.50 billion in the same period of 2023.

In terms of volume, the overall US apparel imports increased by 1.41 per cent to $16.71 billion square meters in the first eight months of 2024, winning from $16.48 billion square meters in the same period of 2023.

The data showed that Bangladesh’s position remained unchanged as the third-largest apparel exporter to the US market with 9 per cent share while China and Vietnam occupied the first and the second highest positions with 21.18 per cent and 18.59 per cent share respectively.

India and Indonesia were also facing declines in apparel shipment to the US but India’s drop was less severe at -1.47 per cent in the first eight months of 2024.

Data showed that the US readymade garment imports from India in January-August of 2024 decreased to $3.21 billion from $3.26 billion in the same period of previous year.

The apparel imports by the US from Indonesia in the first eight months of 2024 dropped by 7.16 per cent to $2.68 billion from $2.89 billion in the same period of 2023.

However, Cambodia and Pakistan stood out as outliers with positive growth rates of 3.89 per cent and 1.06 per cent, respectively, demonstrating resilience in their export performance in the US market during the January-August period of 2024.

Apparel imports from Cambodia to the US in the first eight months of 2024 rose to $2.29 billion, up from $2.21 billion during the same period in 2023, according to Otexa data.

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s readymade garment exports to the US increased to $1.39 billion in the January-August of 2024, compared to $1.37 billion in the same period of 2023.