The country’s merchandise export earnings during the first half (H1) of current fiscal year (FY), 2020-21, witnessed a marginal decline of 0.36 per cent to US$ 19.23 billion over that of the corresponding period of last fiscal. Bangladesh fetched $19.30 billion during July-December period of FY 2019-20. Besides, single month earnings in December 2020 witnessed a 6.11 per cent negative growth to $3.30 billion against $3.52 billion in December 2019, according to the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) data. During the current FY, single month earnings have witnessed a positive growth since July, except for the month of October. After a continuous fall in export earnings since the beginning of 2020, mainly due to the Covid pandemic, exports started recovering from June, and entered positive the territory from July, according to the EPB data. Both exporters and experts attributed the second wave of the pandemic to the decline. They expressed the hope that the Covid-19 vaccine might help boost merchandise shipments in 2021. The RMG sector that contributed the lion’s share to the total exports fetched $15.54 billion in proceeds, marking a 2.99 per cent negative growth during the first half of FY 21. It also missed the target set for the period by 4.12 per cent. The country earned $8.52 billion from knitwear exports in July-December of FY 21, registering a growth of 3.90 per cent, which was $8.20 billion in the corresponding period of last fiscal. Woven garment exports, however, declined by 10.22 per cent to $7.01 billion during the period from $7.81 billion during the corresponding period of last fiscal, data showed. Earnings from home textile exports grew over 47 per cent to $547.48 million. The achievement exceeded the target by 18.83 per cent.
Meanwhile, earnings from jute and jute goods exports increased by 30.56 per cent to $668.11 million during the July-December period of this fiscal, up from $511.73 million over the corresponding period of last fiscal. Agricultural products’ export earnings grew by 0.18 per cent to $524.82 million during the H1 of FY 21. Export earnings of frozen and live fish, however, decreased by 3.71 per cent to $279.72 million. Pharmaceuticals export income stood at $86.33 million, marking a 17.15 per cent growth. On the other hand, leather and leather goods earned $446.13 million, registering a 6.24 per cent decline. Plastic products witnessed a negative growth of 6.84 per cent to $52.97 million during the July-December period, according to the EPB data. When asked, the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) President Dr Rubana Huq said the EPB data continues to portray the worrying scenario of local exports. RMG export has had consecutive downturn in December by 9.64 per cent, which wrapped up the annual export performance for 2020 with an unprecedented fall of 16.94 per cent. She termed 2020 ‘a dark year’ for the industry due to the aftermath of lockdown in Europe and USA as well as its impact on retail sale and demand, the worst-ever Christmas sale and declining price trend. The uncertainties and stresses caused by the pandemic second wave still persist. Besides, there are relatively poor administration and unavailability of vaccine, and the impact these would leave on global economy. So, the downtrend in export will probably continue until this April, she noted. Talking to the FE, the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) Additional Research Director Dr Khondaker Golam Moazzem said the impact of coronavirus second wave was reflected in the export trend, though it was not as much as feared. Some major items among the top-10 ones, like – knitwear, home textile, jute and jute goods, pharmaceuticals, agricultural and engineering products, maintained growth, which is positive. But woven items failed to grow during the last several months mainly because of the declining demands in one of the largest markets, the US, Mr Moazzem noted. The performance of the US economy has been poor due to higher Covid-19 infection rate, unemployment and uncertainties followed by election there. There was fear that shutdown of public jute mills would result in negative growth of jute and jute goods exports. Rather, private jute mills showed the reverse result, he explained. Mr Moazzem emphasised both market and product diversifications as well as necessary measures, so that local products can duly enter online markets. He, however, expressed the hope for better export performance in the coming months. With the starting of Covid-19 vaccination in the importing countries the economic activities will gradually rise, resulting rise in consumers’ demands, he added.
The Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) former president Fazlul Hoque said the future of better export performance largely depends on successful implementation of vaccination in the apparel importing countries, especially the European Union and the USA. He, however, termed the overall export performance ‘satisfactory’, taking the whole situation into consideration. “Though the export growth was slightly negative, it shows that we are able to face tough situation,” he told the FE on Monday. Explaining the better performance of knitwear items, he said the foreign buyers placed work orders with short lead times, ranging from one month to one and a half months during the pandemic. “Bangladesh is in a good position for quick delivery of knit items, thanks to its backward linkage industry.” For woven items, the buyers prefer India and Pakistan, as their woven backward linkage industries are stronger than Bangladesh. He added that USA is a large market for woven, which has been hit hard by coronavirus pandemic. Mr Hoque, also managing director of Plummy Fashions Ltd, forecasts that the first half of 2021 will see a mix trend, while export will increase in the second half of the calendar year.
