Local knitwear makers are now diversifying their product basket mainly to enhance their competitiveness for the sake of greater sustainability on the global market, industry-insiders said. Sportswear, work wear, nightwear, socks and lingerie are among the products that have emerged strongly in recent years, they said. Going beyond the traditional notion of being low-cost and mass production, some of the companies are increasingly moving towards more value-added products, the insiders said. Firms such as Knit Concern Group, SQ Group, Welltex Group and Savar Group, are some of the companies that have already established their footprints in these segments. “Some have already invested in products variation and undergarment and nightwear are one of the items getting momentum,” Fazlul Hoque, former president of Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA), told the FE. Knit Concern has a specialised production facility to produce 25,000 pieces lingerie items, especially brassiere and brassiere-panty sets per day, equipped with 330 specialised brand machines, according to its official website. Welltex Group established Anan Socks in 2009 mainly to grab the growing demand for the specialised item. Misaim Garments Ltd restarted sportswear manufacturing one year ago for France-based buyer Decathlon, said Miran Ali, the company’s managing director. “Such items help come out from cotton-based products,” he said, adding there are potentials as China is becoming more expensive. Being the second largest garment exporter after China, Bangladesh has the potentials to grab the global socks market, said Zashim Uddin Khan, managing director of Zara Socks. Buyers who source knit, woven, sweater and denim items from Bangladesh, but procures socks mainly from China and Turkey, he said. The world market’s demand encouraged him to set up the unit in 2009 with a production capacity of 0.5 million pairs of socks per month. The annual export of Zara Socks is $3.0 million, Mr Khan said. Bangladesh fetched $235.83 million from exports of lingerie items under HS Code 621210 in fiscal year of 2014-15, which was $164 million in FY 2012-13, according to data available with BGMEA. The country earned $244.49 million from exports of lingerie under HS Code 610821 in the last fiscal, which was $207.15 million in 2012-13 fiscal, the data showed. Export earnings stood at $214.23 million and 123.30 million from men/boys underpants and briefs and ladies nightdresses and pyjamas respectively in last fiscal. Exports were $172.86 million and 90.64 million in 2012-13 from men/boys underpants and ladies nightdresses respectively, according to data.
