Country’s readymade garment export to India in the July-November period of the current financial year grew by 56.35 per cent riding on an impressive performance by knitwear products, while RMG export to China fell by 10.93 per cent during the period.RMG export to India in the five months of FY 2017-18 increased to $87.43 million from $55.92 million in the same period of FY 2016-17, according to the Export Promotion Bureau data.In the period, knitwear export to India grew by 68.70 per cent to $30.12 million from $17.85 million.Exporters, however, are puzzling over the reason for the sudden growth of readymade garment export to India in the five months of FY18.
They also said that failure in maintaining lead time was one of the major factors for losing export growth in China.‘I am not sure about the reason for the surge in export to India but it is true that Bangladesh is in a comparatively advantaged position than India in producing knitwear products,’ former Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association president Anwar-ul-Alam Chowdhury Parvez told New Age on Saturday.He said that due to the competitive prices of Bangladesh products Indian importers might place increased number of orders for the products.EPB data showed that export earnings from India in the July-November period of FY18 grew by 4 per cent to $288.20 million compared with that of $277.12 million in the same period of FY17.Export earnings from China in the five months fell by 26.42 per cent to $283.96 million from $385.95 million.RMG export to China in the period decreased by 10.93 per cent to $133.18 million from $149.52 million.Parvez said that all the Asian countries including Bangladesh were enjoying duty-free market access to China but Bangladesh was losing its competitiveness due to high lead time.‘Our competing countries are gaining market share in China as most of the Bangladeshi manufacturers are missing lead time due to inefficiency of the Chittagong port,’ he said.Country’s export earnings from most of the major destinations except United States and Germany registered a significant growth in the five months of this financial year.Exporters said country’s export earnings witnessed a slight positive growth in the US market, overcoming the negative growth in the largest destination for Bangladesh’s exports.According to the EPB data, export earnings from the US grew by 1.58 per cent to $2.33 billion in the five months of FY18 from $2.29 billion in the same period of FY17.Export earnings growth in Germany, the second largest export destination for Bangladesh, remained stagnant since the beginning of this financial year.Export to Germany in the July-November period of FY18 stood at $2.32 billion, the same amount earned in the July-November period of FY17.Export earnings from the UK, the second largest export destination for Bangladesh in the European Union, grew by 20.43 per cent to $1.66 billion in the five months of FY18 from $1.38 billion in the same period of FY17.Apparel products fetched $1.55 billion in export earnings with a 22.18-per cent growth in the period.Export earnings from Spain in July-November in FY18 grew by 25.59 per cent to $1 billion from $800.93 million in the same period of FY17.From the Netherlands, export earnings rose by 33.52 per cent to $508.19 million in the five months of FY18.Bangladesh earned $767.15 million from export to France with 1.73 per cent growth and $628.44 million from Italy with 13.59 per cent growth.Export earnings from Canada in July-November in FY18 grew by 12.18 per cent to $443.03 million from $394.92 million in the same period of FY17.The earnings from Australia grew by 9.81 per cent to $278.39 million from $253.51 million.Country’s RMG export to Japan in the period fell by 1.20 per cent to $297.36 million from $300.97 million in the same period of FY17.
