The readymade garment export to India declined by 27.29 per cent in July, the first month of the current financial year 2015-16, as exporters were to some extent unwilling to increase business with the Indian buyers amid a fear of non-payment of export proceeds. RMG exporters said they witnessed non-payment from two Indian companies — Lilliput Kids Wear and Aldi. In 2011, a total of 22 small and medium exporters of Bangladesh supplied garment products worth $5 million to Lilliput of India but the company is yet to make full payments. Aldi, an Indian retailer, has been dillydallying in paying $1.2 million against export proceeds of the Bangladeshi exporters for the last couple of months, exporters alleged. According to the Export Promotion Bureau data, the RMG export earnings from India in the first month of the FY 2015-16 decreased to $10.38 million from $14.28 million in the same month of the FY 2014-15. ‘Many Indian buyers are interested to place orders in Bangladesh but our manufacturers feel unsecured to entertain the orders as the payment over $6 million from the two companies has remained due for long,’ Shahidullah Azim, vice-president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, told New Age on Monday. Former BGMEA vice-president Faruque Hassan said there were two reasons for the negative growth in India. One was devaluation of the rupee against the US dollar and another was non-payment of the export proceeds by Indian importers, he said. Though the RMG export posted negative growth in India, the overall exports to the country in July of the FY16 grew by 18.38 per cent to $46.37 million from $39.17 million in the same month of the FY15 riding on the robust growth of raw jute. EPB data showed that the export of raw jute in the first month of the FY16 increased by 874.14 per cent to $10.06 million from $1.03 million in the same month of the FY15 while the export of jute and jute products to the country grew by 141.28 per cent to $1,813 million in the period. ‘The demand for raw jute in India increased heavily this year as production of jute was hampered in the country due to environmental causes,’ said Mohammad Shahjahan, president of Bangladesh Jute Exporters’ Association. Jute spinners, however, expressed worry over the export of raw jute in huge quantity and said that not only in India, Bangladesh also witnessed low production of jute this year and mill owners might face shortage of raw jute. Bangladesh Jute Spinners’ Association on Monday held a meeting in the city over the supply situation of raw jute and urged the government not to export the item without meeting local demand. Following the meeting, BJSA vice-president Md Abul Hossain said that they had taken three decisions in the meeting to protect the interest of the sector — giving a letter to the government requesting not to export raw jute without meeting the local demand, keeping the production suspended at the mills for two days in a week due to shortage of raw jute and setting minimum export prices for the association members. The EPB data showed that the export of jute yarn and twine in India in the first month of current fiscal grew by 28.82 per cent to $4.79 million while export of jute sacks and bags decreased by 13.53 per cent to $1.89 million.
