Bangladesh’s apparel exports to its single largest destination to the United States plunged by more than 17 per cent to fetch US$ 1.75 billion in the first quarter of this year compared to last year.

Exporters attributed a number of domestic issues, such as the high cost of doing business and long lead time to their loss of export share in the US market.

The Office of Textiles and Apparel (OTEXA) data released on May 02 show that Bangladesh’s readymade garment exports to the USA was $2.13 billion in the corresponding period of 2023.
The US imported 586.09 million square metres of apparel items from Bangladesh in the January-March period this year — which is about 11.92 per cent lower than the 665.42 million square metres shipped in January-March of 2023.

However, China’s apparel exports to the US recorded a meager negative growth in value, but recorded growth in terms of volume during the period.

The overall US apparel imports from the world in the first three months this year decreased by 7.14 per cent to $18.07 billion — down from $19.46 billion in January and March of 2023.
Mohammad Hatem, executive president of the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA), said buyers are now placing work orders with short lead time due to a number of factors and China and Vietnam are in advantageous situation.

Lead times in Bangladesh are comparatively high compared to China and Vietnam. The situation is further worsened by the current inconsistent gas supply, he noted.

Bangladesh can’t receive all those as there is no deep sea port while both import and export activities are delayed due to complexities related to customs, he said.

Mr Hatem added that they are struggling to meet the lead time as they need 15 to 20 days to get the required fabric due to gas and electricity crisis.

The BKMEA leader also said that they are losing competitiveness as cost of production has gone up significantly here in the country due to high gas price, recent wage hike while electricity rate is going to be raised further.

“In many cases, we can’t receive the work orders as buyers are offering prices below the production cost,” he noted.

Exporters are struggling to meet lead times for current work orders due to a severe gas crisis, he said.

OTEXA data showed that China’s apparel exports to the US during the first three months of 2024 reached US$3.44 billion marking a 0.71 per cent fall.

China exported 1.92 billion square meters of apparel during the first quarter of 2024, marking a 9.79 per cent growth over the shipments of 1.74 billion square meters during January-March of 2023, OTEXA data showed.

Vietnam’s apparel exports to the US in January-March period of 2024 also increased by 0.91per cent to US$3.39 billion.

US imported 1.08 billion square meters of apparel from Vietnam during the first three months of 2024 marking an 11.54 per cent in growth against 925.77 million square meters in the corresponding period.

The US’s RMG imports from Cambodia in January-March 2024 also increased by 11.13 per cent to $807.87 million.

India’s RMG exports to the US market declined by 8.79 per cent to $1.21 billion during the period over that of US$1.33 billion in corresponding period.

US RMG imports from Indonesia in the first three months of 2024 decreased by 14.16 per cent to $1.02 billion, compared to $1.19 billion in the same period of 2023, according to OTEXA data.