Bangladeshi manufacturers exported products totalling US $ 5.19 billion in February of the current financial year (FY ’24), fetching a 12.04 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) growth, according to data published by the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) on Monday. Last year in the same period, the country earned US $ 4.63 billion from export earnings.
After experiencing a decline for a few months, the exports continued on an upward trajectory.
The export total for February, however, fell short of the month’s goal, which was set at US $ 5.24 billion, by 0.98 per cent.
In the current FY ’24, Bangladesh earned more than US $ 5 billion in export revenue in December, January, and February of three successive months. The country previously accomplished the same feat in November, December, and January in the previous fiscal year, FY ’23. Industry insiders stated that the country’s foreign exchange reserves will improve and the dollar market volatility will decrease due to the increase in export revenues.
The largest export earner, the ready-made garment (RMG) industry, brought in US $ 4.49 billion in February, up 13.93 per cent from US $ 3.94 billion during the same time in the previous FY ’23.
The first eight months of the current FY ’24 (July-February) saw a slight Y-o-Y gain of 3.71 per cent to US $ 38.45 billion in earnings, which is higher than the US $ 37.07 billion in the same period of the previous FY ’23, according to EPB data. Nevertheless, according to EPB data, the July–February export total is 6.48 per cent below than the US $ 41.12 billion forecast.
During the first eight months of FY ’24, the RMG sector bagged US $ 32.86 billion, fetching a narrow Y-o-Y growth of 4.77 per cent from US $ 31.37 billion in the same period of FY ’23.
Knitwear exports from the garment industry reached US $ 18.59 billion, while woven item exports came in at US $ 14.26 billion, showing a 0.26 per cent negative growth and a 9 per cent positive growth, respectively, compared to FY ’23.
During the July–February fiscal year of FY ’24, export profits from every major industry experienced negative growth, except the RMG sector’s minimal positive increase.
Home textiles, one of the other noteworthy industries, witnessed a negative growth of 29.94 per cent to US $ 539.35 million, from US $ 769.86 million during the same time of the previous fiscal year.
Leather and leather goods also experienced negative growth of 14.38 per cent to US $ 712.68 million, which was US $ 832.28 million in the first eight months of FY ’24.
Faruque Hassan, president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) stated that the garment sector saw a better-than-expected increase in apparel shipments in January and February.
Earlier on Sunday, he stated that, in light of the shifting dynamics of the global fashion environment, they aimed to diversify and encourage a noticeable shift towards synthetic, animal, vegetable, and regenerated fibres to increase the global market share of locally created garments to 12 per cent from the current 7.87 per cent.
