The country’s readymade garment (RMG) exports rose during the October-December period of the current fiscal year, while raw material imports grew at a slower pace, resulting in net exports of 61.04% – the highest in the last four quarters.
According to a central bank report, the RMG sector had a net export of 61.41% during the October-December quarter of FY24, but it fell to 57.04% in the April-June quarter of the same fiscal year.
The report shows that the import value of raw materials – including raw cotton, synthetic/viscose fibre, synthetic/mixed yarn, cotton yarn, and textile fabrics and accessories for garments – was $4.04 billion in the October-December period of FY25, accounting for 39% of total RMG export earnings.
As a result, net exports from the sector reached $6.33 billion in the second quarter of FY25, marking a 12.67% increase from the preceding quarter’s $5.62 billion and an 18% rise compared to the same quarter last year at ($5.37 billion).
The import value of garment raw materials was $3.8 billion in the April-June quarter of FY24, accounting for 43% of total RMG export earnings.
As a result, net exports from the sector stood at $5.04 billion, 14% lower than the preceding quarter’s $5.89 billion and 10% lower than the same quarter the previous year at $5.61 billion.
Total export earnings from RMG reached $10.37 billion in the October-December quarter of FY25, a 9% increase from the previous quarter’s $9.51 billion, driven by a rebound in economic activities in advanced economies and the peak holiday shopping season in Western markets, where US and European retailers typically boost orders to meet consumer demand.
In the second quarter of FY25, knitwear exports contributed 42.62% and woven exports 37.92% to total RMG earnings, said the central bank report.
Among non-RMG items, leather and leather products accounted for 2.24%, agricultural products 2.51%, jute goods 1.43%, frozen and live fish 0.87%, chemical products 0.79%, raw jute 0.36%, and other products 11.01%.
During October-December FY25, Bangladesh’s RMG exports primarily went to the United States, Germany, the UK, Spain, France, the Netherlands, Italy, Canada, and Belgium, generating $8.05 billion in total earnings.
Of this, 90.10%, or $7.26 billion, came from these countries, with woven exports at 43.26% and knitwear at 46.84%.
RMG export earnings from these countries rose by 7.13% from the previous quarter but declined by 8.79% compared to the same quarter of the previous fiscal year.
