Country’s two biggest cloth-wholesale markets at Islampur in Old Dhaka and Baburhat in Narsingdi are now buzzing with business activity amid huge turnout of traders and shop owners from across the country. Traders said sales increased significantly at the market ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr thanks to a relatively cool political situation like in the last Eid-ul-Fitr. Ignoring the overcast sky, customers are thronging Islampur, the biggest wholesale market for clothing items. Md Shawkat Ali Liton, a cloth-shop owner from Ranishonkoil in Thakurgaon district, came all the way from the district in the far north to Islampur hub to collect readymade garments and other cloths on the second day of holy Ramadan. “Prices of cloths have increased notably at Islampur following flow of customers. Our profit margins would decline this year,” he said on Saturday afternoon. He said shop owners got handsome profits during the last Eid and Durga Puja festivals. “But this year the number of customers from villages might fall due to lower prices of paddy and other crops,” he added. But Al-Hajj Samsul Haque, proprietor of M/s Setu Corporation at Dowlat Complex Market in Islampur, told the FE that the sales increased significantly from the Shab-e-Barat festival. “The business was good during last Eid-ul-Fitr and we are expecting another bumper year this Ramadan,” he said. However, Mr Haque claimed that prices of cloths didn’t increase compared to that of last Eid thanks to a decline in yarn prices to some extent. But owner of M/s M Howlader & Sons at Haji Hasem Plaza under the Islampur wholesale hub Md Atiqur Rahman had a bit different view of the pricing. “It is true that prices haven’t increased compared that of last Eid, but it is 10-15 per cent higher than the prices during normal days,” he said. Mr Rahman said a medium-quality pant piece is selling at Tk 300-350 now, up from Tk 280-320 apiece in normal times. A good-quality shirt piece is selling at Tk 600-650, which was Tk 550-600 two weeks back. Proprietor of M/s D. N. Textile Mills Ltd at Somobai Market in the area Md Mizanur Rahman (Dulal) said the sale of readymade garments of different qualities for children, men and women increased significantly. Demand for Zakat items, including saris and lungis, is also higher, he said. He was expecting Tk 0.25 million sales on Saturday against a turnover of Tk 0.05 million in normal days. General Secretary of Islampur Cloth Merchants Association (ICMA) Masudur Rahman Sohel said sale would pick up further if rain doesn’t bother. He said the newly initiated package VAT (value-added tax) has come as a big blow for the medium-and small-scale traders. “Many of the traders are burdened with bank loans amid political turbulence in 2012, 2013 and 2015; the increased VAT is a great concern for them,” he said. Despite many difficulties, Mr Rahman expected 7,500 cloth merchants under 127 markets in Islampur might make a sale of Tk 15.0 billion ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr. However, the monopoly of Islampur was no more–Baburhat in Narsingdi district is also attracting a good number of buyers from different parts of the country. Baburhat Bazar at Shekeherchar in the district has emerged as an important cloth hub where mostly local-made products are sold. Visiting the wholesale market Friday the FE correspondent found wholesalers and retailers from different parts of the country gathered there on the weekly market day. Friday, Saturday and Sunday are the haat (weekly market) days in Baburhat when nearly 2,400 shop-owners pass busy time and the rush increases ten times ahead of Eid with a large number of traders from across the country thronging the market. Baburhat is famous for low-priced saris, lungis, fabrics, salwar-kameez for women and so on. Kalidas Saha, the owner of Shadhona Bostraloy in the area, told the FE that the market is also famous for Zakat clothes. He said sale has increased recently following the Eid-ul-Fitr compared to that of normal days, but not to the level of last year. “Low-cost Indian fabrics and readymade garments have flooded the market, which is taking a toll on the local product sellers,” he said. He suggested the government should strictly handle the matter to protect the interests of local manufacturers and traders. Md Jamal Uddin, the proprietor of Smart Lungi, said prices of saris and lungis have not increased thanks to the stable yarn market. He informed the FE that weavers from Sirajganj, Pabna, Tangail, Narayanganj, Dohar and Kushtia bring different clothing items to sell to shop-owners who then deliver those to other traders from across the country. Paikars (wholesalers) from Barisal, Khulna, Kushtia, Jessore, Rangpur and Dinajpur regions are the main buyers of the clothing items of Baburhat. “And the area is now number one in trading of Zakat clothes,” he said. Md Ashraf Ali, a manager of Fazar Ali Lungi, said the number of customers for lungis started rising. “The overall business trend of this Eid could be known from next week.” He said different varieties of ‘Fazar Ali’ lungi are sold at Tk 250 to Tk 1500. Per-day sales at more than 2,400 shops in Baburhat amount to minimum Tk 100 million on the eve of Eid. “The total sales in 30 days will be nearly Tk3.0 billion ahead of Eid if the trend of last year continues,” said Mr Ali, who has worked at Baburhat for last twenty years. President of Narsingdi Chamber of Commerce and Industry Alhaj Mosharrof Hossain said Baburhat is not only playing an important role for the Narsingdi business but also for the overall economy of the country. “Last year the business was very good thanks to a sound political environment and this year is also a good one considering the current politics. “But the smuggling of Indian low-quality clothes into Bangladesh has been causing serious losses to local industries,” said Mr Hossain, also the owner of ‘Amor Lungi’ and ‘Mehedi Print Sari’

Rising price of imported yarn has posed a challenge to local silk manufacturers but offered an opportunity to increase local production of raw materials. Boosting production of local yarn can help revitalise the silk sector and regain its lost glory alongside meeting the local demand. Local consumption could be met with domestic outputs of silk after proper use of natural resources. The observations came at a daylong workshop styled “Boosting Quality Silk Yarn Production in Minifiliatures through addressing the existing problems” held at the conference hall of Bangladesh silk Development Board (BSDB) here on Sunday. Bangladesh Silk Foundation (BSF) and BSDB jointly organized the workshop discussing ways and means on how to boost the quality yarn to meet up the local demands. Director General of BSDB Anis-Ul Haque Bhuiyan and Managing Director of BSF Jahangir Hossain addressed the inaugural session as the chief and special guests respectively with Nasir Uddin, General Manager of BSF, in the chair. BSDB Member Serajul Islam, President of Bangladesh Silk Industry Owners Association Liakat Ali, Deputy Director of Regional Silk Extension Office Mofazzal Hossain and Technical Officer of Meergonj Minilifilature Center Abdul Jalil also spoke on the occasion. During his keynote presentation, Abu Taher Sarder, Deputy Chief Production and Marketing Officer of BSDB, highlighted various ways and means of substantial and sustainable production of silk yarn through the best uses of 12 minifilatures of BSDB. The discussants recommended that ways and means should be worked out how yarn production could be boosted through proper utilisation of the existing natural and other infrastructural resources. There is no alternative to raising domestic production of yarn to protect the sector. They opined that the sector needs an urgent initiative to retain the skilled labourers, especially the realers, weavers and printers, in the profession and thus protect the sector itself. Demand of local yarn has started increasing due to the price-hike of imported silk. It is expected that the cocoon rearers would become interested again in enhancing their production if they get reasonable price of their produce. “We have no alternative to revitilising the sector and protect its six lakh (600,000) people,” said silk industrialist Liakat Ali. He listed the growers should be provided with supports and inputs such as disinfectant eggs, high-yielding mulberry plants, technical support and soft loan for construction of rearing house along with ensuring sound marketing facilities.

Bangladesh will remain a popular sourcing destination for US fashion retailers due to price competitiveness, according to a recent study by the United States Fashion Industry Association (USFIA). Bangladesh is the sixth most popular sourcing destination this year with 50 percent of the respondents currently buying from the country, the study found. The country is also among the top five sourcing destinations with the highest growth potential after Vietnam, India and the US. About 42 percent of the respondents expect to increase sourcing value or volume from Bangladesh in the next two years, though this figure sharply declined from 65 percent in 2014. “The consistent interest in expanding sourcing from Bangladesh among US fashion companies is closely connected with the companies’ strong desire to find sourcing destinations to supplement China,” the study said. However, Bangladesh still has to compete with other leading suppliers in the region, particularly Vietnam, India and Indonesia.  Among the respondents currently sourcing from Bangladesh, 87 percent also buy from Vietnam, 67 percent from India and 60 percent from Indonesia. Although the retailers prefer Bangladesh as a popular sourcing destination, they expressed concern about the political tensions in the country. The USFIA conducted the second US Fashion Industry Benchmarking Study, where executives from 30 US-based fashion companies, retailers, importers and wholesalers were surveyed between March and April this year. The survey report was published early this week. The survey was conducted in conjunction with Sheng Lu, an assistant professor at the University of Rhode Island’s Department of Textiles, Fashion Merchandising and Design. The survey asked respondents about the business outlook, sourcing practices, utilisation of free trade agreements and preference programmes and views on trade policy. Ninety percent of the respondents report having more than 100 employees and 60 percent report having more than 1,000 employees. Considering the business size of the respondents, the survey suggested the findings are well reflecting the views of the most influential players in the US fashion industry. The survey also found that companies continue to diversify their sourcing options, though free trade agreements and preference programmes remain underutilised. The US fashion industry is a critical Trans-Pacific Partnership stakeholder, as close to 80 percent of the respondents expect implementation of the TPP will impact their business practices.