Country’s export earnings from two major sectors — jute and jute goods and leather and leather products — decreased in the just concluded financial year of 2018-19 although the overall earnings in the period stood at record $40.53 billion due to an impressive performance by the readymade garment sector. Exporters blamed anti-dumping duty imposed by India on Bangladeshi jute goods for declining export of jute goods and lack of environmental compliance for falling export of leather products. The country’s export earnings in June, the last month of FY19, fell by 5.27 per cent to $2.78 billion from $2.94 billion in the same month of FY18. Exporters said that the export earnings witnessed a negative growth in June due to shipment of less number of consignments as productions in factories remained suspended for more than seven days due to Eid-ul-Fitr, one of the biggest religious festivals of the Muslims. Export earnings from jute and jute goods in FY19 fell by 20.41 per cent to $816.27 million from $1.02 billion in the previous fiscal year, according to the Export Promotion Bureau data released on Monday. Bangladesh Jute Mills Association secretary Abdul Barik Khan said that export earnings from jute and jute goods declined due to anti-dumping duty imposed by India on jute goods and wars in several counties which are Bangladesh’s markets for the products. Besides, Bangladeshi jute goods exporters are losing their competitiveness as high bank interest rate and age-old machinery are increasing production costs, he said. Export earnings from leather and leather products decreased by 6.06 per cent to $1.02 billion in FY19 from $1.08 billion in FY18, the EPB data showed. However, the export earnings from leather-footwear increased by 7.48 per cent to $607.88 million while other leather products fetched $247.28 million with a 26.58-per cent negative growth in the fiscal year. Leather exporters said that many global buyers were skipping Bangladesh due to the issue of environmental compliance. They requested the government to make the central effluent treatment plant fully operational and manage the solid waste in the leather industrial park at Savar, on the outskirts of Dhaka to change the situation. Export earnings from agriculture products in FY19 grew by 34.92 per cent to $908.96 million from $ 908.96 million in the previous fiscal year. Earnings from exports of frozen and live fish fell by 1.58 per to $500.4 million in FY19 compared with that in the same period of last fiscal year while the shrimp export income fell by 11.68 per cent to $361.14 million. Export earnings from the pharmaceutical sector in FY19 increased by 25.60 per cent to $129.95 million from $103.46 million in FY18.
