Bangladesh’s apparel export to the US, the largest export destination for Bangladesh, in January-February of 2024 fell by 19.24 cent in value and 12.79 per cent in volume, according to the US Department of Commerce’s Office of Textiles and Apparel data.
During the same period readymade garment export by China to the US grew by 0.48 per cent in value and 14.94 per cent in volume. The data also revealed that Vietnam’s apparel exports to the US in the first two months of 2024 also increased by 0.14 per cent in value and 8.81 per cent in volume. Thus Bangladesh has fallen far behind in terms of apparel export to the United States in the January-February period of 2024 compared with its competitors.
Exporters blamed a number of domestic issues, including high cost of doing business and lack of diversification, responsible for losing the export share in the US market. They termed the scenario concerning, saying that although the demand for apparel increased in the US, Bangladesh was lagging behind China and Vietnam in the market.
It is concerning that Bangladesh is lagging behind its competitors in the US market, said Centre for Policy Dialogue distinguished fellow Mustafizur Rahman. He recommended that the government and industry leaders should look into the issue seriously.
The demand for apparel increased in the US market as the economy of the US started recovering with the easing of inflation, but Bangladesh failed to gain the share of increased demand due to some domestic reasons, he said.
Bangladesh’s RMG export to the US in January-February of 2024 fell to $1.18 billion compared with that of $1.47 billion in the same period of 2023.
In terms of quantity, the apparel imports by the US from Bangladesh in the first two months of this year fell to 395.69 million square metres from 453.73 million square metres in the same period of 2023, the data showed.
The data showed that the import of apparel by the US from China in January-February of 2024 increased to $2.54 billion from $2.53 billion in the same period of previous year. In terms of quantity, the apparel export by China to the US in the first two months of this year grew to 1.44 billion square metres from 1.25 billion square metres in the same period of 2023.
RMG imports by the US from Vietnam in the two months of 2024 stood at $2.36 billion, which was almost the same as in January-February of 2023. In terms of volume, Vietnamese apparel exports to the US in January-February of 2024 increased to 705.09 million square metres from 647.98 million square metres in the same period of the past year.
The data showed that the total US imports of readymade garments from the world in the first two months of January-February in 2024 decreased by 7.77 per cent to $12.18 billion compared with those of $13.21 billion in the same period of 2023.
Bangladesh still remains the third-largest apparel exporter to the US market with 9.12 per cent share while China and Vietnam occupied the first and the second highest positions with 21.26 per cent and 18.46 per cent share respectively.
Among other major exporting countries the US’s RMG import from Cambodia in January-February of 2024 also increased by 15.34 per cent to $545.20 million compared with that of $472.67 million in the same period of 2023. India’s RMG exports to the US market in January-February of 2024 declined by 13.75 per cent to $759.48 million compared with those of $88.05 million in the same period of the previous year. RMG imports by the US from Indonesia in the first two months of 2024 decreased by 17.25 per cent to $660.35 million compared with those of $797.99 million in the same period of 2023, the data showed.
