Bangladesh’s apparel exports to the US bounced back in the first half of the year thanks to political stability and safety drive, helping the country regain confidence in buyers, industry insiders said. Shipment of local garment products to its single largest destination reached US$ 2.68 billion during January to June of 2015, marking a 9.47 per cent growth, according to the Office of Textiles and Apparel (OTEXA) under the US Department of Commerce. The earnings stood at $ 2.45 billion during the same period of last year. Bangladesh’s apparel export to US fell to $ 4.83 billion in 2014 from $ 4.94 billion in 2013. Though Bangla-desh’s garment export earnings from the US market grew by 9.47 per cent over that of last year, it is still lower than that of the competing countries, industry insiders said. Apparel exports to US reboun And the price of locally-made apparel items did not increase in line with the rising production cost, they added. Apparel exports to the US by Vietnam, India and Sri Lanka grew by 15.43 per cent, 10.02 per cent and 16.46 per cent respectively. Vietnam’s earnings stood at $ 4.94 billion during the first six months of 2015, which was $ 4.28 billion during the same period of 2014, the OTEXA data showed. India exported garment worth $ 2.0 billion against $ 1.82 billion during the same period of last year, it revealed. Sri Lanka fetched $ 999.83 million which was $ 858.53 million in the same period of 2014. On the other hand, Chinese apparel products export grew by 1.69 per cent to $ 12.60 billion during the January to June of 2015 from $ 12.39 billion in the last year. Last year, US buyers were in a ‘wait-and-watch’ situation as they were slightly worried over the confrontational politics and the consecutive industrial incidents like Tazreen blaze and Rana Plaza building collapse in previous years, vice president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) Md Shahidullah Azim told the FE. “But the stable political situation and the ongoing safety initiatives helped us regain the confidence in buyers,” he said. Factory inspection by the western retailers’ groups is complete while that of the national initiative is nearing end and remediation work is going on to improve the workplace safety, he said. Orders from the US buyers are gradually increasing in recent times, he added. “The rise in export to the US is encouraging as the overall apparel export growth is still low,” former president of Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) Fazlul Haque said. But competing countries like India and Vietnam are doing better compared to Bangladesh, he added. The growth achieved by Vietnam, India and Sri Lanka in the US market showed that a good portion of Bangladesh’s share has already shifted to those countries, Mr Azim noted.
