Apparel exports grow by 1.2pc in FY’09-10
Monday, 19 July 2010 21:34
Business
Apparel exports grow by 1.2pc in FY’09-10
Kazi Azizul Islam
Export earnings from apparels, which earn more than three-fourths of the country’s entire export proceeds, grew by 1.2 per cent to $12.5 billion in the just ended FY 2009-2010.
But overall export earnings grew by 4.1 per cent to $16.2 billion as a few traditional and non-traditional products performed very well, according to the monthly report of the Export Promotion Bureau.
The report showed that in FY 2009-2010 exports of knit garments amounted to $6.483 billion, higher by 0.8 per cent than the previous fiscal year. Exports of cut and sewn or woven garments amounted to $6.013 million, up 1.6 per cent.
The increased shipment of garments since February helped to offset the minus growth in the previous months. In every month from June to January of the last fiscal year, except October, garment export earnings saw negative growth and the highest figure was recorded at minus 26 per cent in September.
In june, overall monthly export was recorded at $1,600 million, which is a record for any month.
Analysts said that the belated impacts of global recession, increased competition by other countries’ exporters and disruption in production due to shortage of gas and electricity had handicapped Bangladeshi garment exporters.
Faruk Hassan, acting president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, said that the cost of yarns and fabrics had increased quite a lot in the last quarter of the past fiscal year, so apparel exports increased in terms of value.
‘Really, one per cent growth is almost unusual in the Bangladeshi apparel industry,’ said Hasan. ‘Moreover, this growth was due to the increased FoB value of shipments because of the increased cost of raw materials.’
Anwar-Ul-Alam Chowdhury Parvez, a former president of the BGMEA and chairman of the Evince Group, said that the seasonal rise in sweater shipments also increased the growth of apparel export in the last three months of the past fiscal year.
Professor Mustafizur Rahman of the Centre for Policy Dialogue saw this growth as ‘recovery’ and said that it could be made sustainable.
‘There has been post-recession increase in demand in the global market and it is helping Bangladeshi exporters,’ said Rahman. However, he sees volatile factors there like reshaped competition and currency fluctuation. ‘Bangladeshi exporters can maintain growth but they need to get support for smooth production, they have to manage the non-wage cost of business and use dynamic marketing strategies.’
The Export Promoting Bureau said that export of some traditional and non-traditional products grew robustly in the year.
Jute goods exports grew by 88 per cent to $398 million, raw jute by 32 per cent to $196 million, home textiles by 72 per cent to $539 million, and terry towels by 18 per cent to $156 million.
Leather export grew by 28 per cent to $226 million, footwear by 9 per cent to $204 million, engineering products — bi-cycle, steel and copper ware etc —by 72 per cent to $311 million.
Export of frozen foods — shrimps and fishes —saw minus growth of 2 per cent and amounted to $445 million.
The volume of manufactured products, which constitute more than 90 per cent of Bangladesh’s exports, increased by 4.5 per cent, but the prices fell by 0.6 per cent.
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