The hopes of recovery of the global apparel industry in 2021, which have had a rather difficult 2020, are punctured by new wave of the coronavirus pandemic lockdowns and patchy national vaccine rollouts with major retailers in USA and Europe sitting on excess inventories and cutting back on new (Spring) orders having major implications on readymade garment factories in Bangladesh.
According to a Reuters report, which cited McKinsey, the value of unsold clothing globally, in stores and warehouses, ranges from US $ 168 to US $ 192 billion (€140-160 billion), which is more than double the normal levels.
We are operating at 25 per cent of capacity, reportedly, underlined Miran Ali, a Director of the BGMEA who also represents the Star Network (an alliance of manufacturers in six Asian countries) speaking to the Reuters even as apparel exporter Shahidullah Azim, whose clients include North American and European retailers, on his part, reportedly, said that there are no orders for March though orders usually arrive three months in advance.
The pre-Christmas lockdowns in most parts of Europe followed by another clampdown in January 2021 have hit garment makers in Bangladesh hard even as 50 factories surveyed by the BGMEA, reportedly, maintained that they had received 30 per cent lesser orders than usual this season.
