Despite being a negative impact on the worldwide textile and apparel industry in 2019 and 2020, the year 2021 observed a mammoth growth. The global apparel manufacturing market reached $992 billion in 2021 which was $948 in 2020.
Major apparel manufacturing countries like China, Bangladesh, Vietnam, India, Turkey, etc. observed a significant growth in the year 2021 and prospect a boom in the year 2022.
On the other hand, brands and retailers overcome the loss they faced during the years 2019 and 2020. Also, they are hoping for returning to growth in the year 2022.
Scenario of Bangladesh
Bangladesh also observed a positive growth in the year 2021, though the country faced a huge struggle in 2019 and 2020 due to the Covid pandemic. A few days back, Bangladesh celebrated 50 years of independence. Global attention is focused on the remarkable economic and social progress the country has made in recent years. Even with the setbacks of the COVID-19 pandemic, the country is on the track to become a middle-income country within the next few years.
The country earned $35.81 billion in the year 2021 exporting apparel items in the global market, which is 30.36% up from $27.47 billion earned in 2020.
Many national and international surveys showed that Bangladesh remains one of the top sourcing destinations after China for international clothing retailers and brands. Even during the coronavirus pandemic, the country did not lose its pace due to its competitive prices, quality product and on-time delivery.
On the other hand, the domestic textile industry, which had seen demand drop in the year 2021 owing to the arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic, is firmly on course to recover in the year 2022 on the back of reviving of businesses, educational institutions and retail outlets. Thanks to the mass vaccination program launched by the worldwide government!
In 2021 the price of yarn and cotton almost doubled, the price of fuel also increased as well as freight costs increased by 200% to 400%, causing a significant increase in the overall cost of production. Exporters had to bear almost all these costs as the buyers did not upsurge the prices as per expectation. Due to this, even though the export had increased in terms of quantity, the profit did not meet the anticipation.
The manufacturers and the experts said Textile Today that in 2022, achieving fair prices in line with export expenditure will be a major challenge for the country’s apparel sector.
Many orders are shifting from China, it is a great opportunity for Bangladesh to grab this market share by developing local capacity.
Brands and retail outlook
A report jointly done by McKinsey and The Business of Fashion estimates the global fashion sales to exceed 2019 levels by 3-8 percent with the strongest recovery to be seen in China and US markets, followed by Europe. The fashion industry recovery will be V-shaped as performance in the year 2021 pointed to a possible return to profitability by 2022.
The boom in online shopping during the pandemic times has enabled retailers to leverage their online operations and integrate them well with their in-store offerings.
AI in retail is set to be worth $19 billion by 2027 and pandemic has been the suitable time for the companies to speed up its adoption.
Now a day fashion consumer is more prone to sustainable fashion. This has made fashion creators including designers, product developers, buyers and merchandisers go for recyclable and eco-friendly fashion options. Although non-sustainable fashion will continue to dominate the overall fashion offerings in 2022, many brands will be working for sustainable fashion.
Besides, a new debate has aroused and that is ‘nearshoring’. European and US brands and buyers are sourcing apparel products from the nearest countries. And Recent OTEXA data exposed that US retailers and brands have seen importing vastly from Mexico. This trend has brought worries among the offshore manufacturing countries.
