Bangladesh’s readymade garment exports to the United States in January-February of 2023 registered a growth of 2.49 percent to $1.46 bn as the overall demand for apparel items declined in the market due to an economic slowdown amid the Russia-Ukraine war, according to the US Department of Commerce’s Office of Textiles and Apparel data.
The US, the largest export destination for Bangladesh, had imported apparel of $1.43 bn in the first two month of 2022. Exporters said that the overall consumption of apparel products decreased in the US as the consumers in the country were struggling with high inflation.
They said that the export orders from the US had started decreasing since September 2022 and the situation was reflected in the OTEXA data.
Exporters also said that the growth might remain slow for the next three or four months in the US market.
‘Bangladesh’s apparel exports to the US market registered a minimal growth in January-February of 2023 but our share in the market would not decline as the overall imports of the US fell in the period due to high inflation and interest rate,’ Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association President Faruque Hassan told.
He said that the global economy was now passing through a turmoil situation due to geopolitical reasons.
Due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, western countries are facing high inflation and high interest rate and these have also raised the amounts of installments for mortgage, the BGMEA President said.
Under the circumstances, western consumers are paying more to buy food, medicines and other essentials cutting budget for shopping, Faruque said. The BGMEA President also said that the slow growth of Bangladesh’s apparel exports to the US would continue till May.
In terms of quantity, the US import of apparel from Bangladesh in January-February of 2023 declined by 14.41 percent to 453.81 mn square metres compared with that of 530.20 mn square mtr in the same period of 2022, the data showed.
The total US import of readymade garments from the world in the first two months of 2023 fell by 11.86 percent to $13.21 bn compared with that of $14.99 bn in the same period of 2022.
The OTEXA data showed that Bangladesh’s position remained unchanged as the third-largest apparel exporter in the US market with 9.95 percent share while China and Vietnam occupied the first and the second highest positions with 21.08 percent and 18.31 percent share respectively.
The data showed that the import of apparel by the US from China in January-February of 2023 decreased by 29.65 percent to $2.53 bn compared with that of $3.59 bn in the same period of 2022.
RMG import by the US from Vietnam in first two months of 2023 declined by 10.62 percent to $2.36 billion compared with that of $2.64 bn in the same period of the past year. India’s RMG export to the US market in January-February of 2022 grew by 0.41 percent to $880 mn compared with that of $876.43 mn in the same period of 2022.
Apparel import by the US from Indonesia in the first two months of 2023 declined by 7.06 percent to $798.64 mn while the import from Cambodia declined by 29.05 percent to $471.83 mn in the period, the OTEXA data showed.
