Intense price competition among the RMG makers in Asia resulted in reduced profit margins for the Bangladeshi clothing exporters as the country has to import most of the raw materials for the sector. The apparel export of the country has declined in recent months due to worldwide sluggish demand whereas its competitors have seen a rise in the field, said industry insiders. Talking to The Independent, Siddiqur Rahman, former president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers’ and Exporters’ Association (BGMEA), said, “Fashion industry drastically changes and it’s the nature of the industry. We have a higher lead time and we import cotton from abroad which increases the cost and impedes our export, said Rahman,” “On the other hand, Pakistan and Vietnam source most of the raw materials locally and for this reason, their products are marked with lower prices,” said Rahman. In the first four months of the current fiscal year 2019-20 of RMG sector (July-October) fetched $10.57 billion, decreased by 6.67 per cent to $11.33 billion in the same period of FY 2018-19, on the other hand, shipment from Vietnam increased by 10.54 per cent between July and September, he said. It was 2.2 per cent for India and 4.74 per cent for Pakistan, he added. “The inflow of investment in the garment sector is also sluggish both in terms of new entrepreneurship and expansion as the buyers are not paying good prices,” said Rahman. “Europe is the pivotal export market for us and they have lowered importing goods from us since last year. The entire world market value of export is worth $600 billion where last year it was only $440 billion, which means the export diminishes worldwide and the world market condition is awful, said Rahman. Expressing other reasons, he said that online apparel market is growing which affects the export growth, he said. “The demand for the diversified products is increasing worldwide where we have failed to diversify our products and reliance only one sector which is apparel sector,” he added. Woven products earned USD 5.03 billion in July-October of this fiscal year 2019-20, marking a 7.67 per cent negative growth from the same period in the previous fiscal year which was USD 5.45 billion. The Knitwear industry earned around $5.53 billion during the same time, up by 5.73 per cent from the same period last year which was $5.87 billion, according to EPB. If a T-shirt is sold at $5, the share of accessories is 15 per cent. At present, nearly 1,600 factories are producing the accessories. Some are directly exporting to other countries, Abdul Kader Khan, president of the Bangladesh Garments Accessories and Packaging Manufacturers’ and Exporters’ Association (BGAPMEA) told The Independent. “Our port facility should be completely automated in order to increase the export,” he felt. According to BGMEA, fifty-nine garment factories have been shut and 25,900 workers have lost jobs in the last seven months.
