Country’s export earnings from the RMG industry in the first ten months of FY19 were $28.50 billion, an increase of 12.59 percent from $22.83 billion in the corresponding period of FY18.
Bangladesh total exports shipment to the global markets surged by 11.61% to $33.93 billion during July-April period of the current fiscal years. It was $30.40 billion in the same period last year.
According to the EPB, in April Bangladesh earned $3.03 billion exporting goods to the global market, which was $2.95 billion in the same period a year ago. The export figure failed to reach the monthly target of $3.08 billion.
As the export income growth largely depended on RMG products the country had failed to utilize the potential of other products, including jute and jute goods and leather products, said industry leaders.
In this respect, he recommended addressing the specific challenges for specific products to ensure sustainable export growth in the future.
Export Promotion Bureau data showed that the earnings from woven garments in the ten-month period of FY19 grew by 12.85 percent to $14.40 billion from $11.51 billion in the same period of the last fiscal year.
On the other hand, the knitwear export revenue in the period went up by 12.32 percent to $14.08 billion compared to the same period of FY18.
The specialized textile sector saw a 36 percent growth to $125 million from $92, while home textile products saw a negative growth of 3.74 percent to $723.60 million, down from $752.67 million.
“The present growth rate is quite good as the December-March was peak season for closing the shipments. But the situation is different as the works order flow is not so good,” said Faisal Samad, Senior Vice President of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association.
So, I cannot assure that the growth momentum would continue in months to come as the sector had been going through competition due to rise in wage and production cost, said Faisal also the Managing Director, Surma Garments Ltd.
Amid challenges, the new leaders just took the charge of the BGMEA and it was working to identify new areas where more opportunity remained to grow, he added.
However, the export earnings from leather-footwear increased by 6.72 percent to $491.05 million while other leather products fetched $198.94 million with a 33.83-per cent negative growth in the period.
Jute and jute goods exports in the July-April of FY19 fell by 21.83 percent, to $695.52 million from $889.74 million in the same period of FY18.
