Even as economies in the West continue to slowly get back to normal after reopening following extended coronavirus pandemic-induced closures, exports of leather and leather goods from Bangladesh have exceeded the pre-pandemic level in the first quarter of the current fiscal year as demands for leather products continue to rise in the Western countries.
According to the data of the country’s Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), manufacturers shipped leather and leather products worth US $ 271.34 million from July to September, up 21 per cent from that of US $ 225.15 million in the July to September period last fiscal year even as the receipts were 6.66 per cent higher than US $ 254.39 million recorded in the same three-month period of FY2019-20 even as exporters fetched US $ 324.62 million in the July-September quarter in FY2017-18, which was the highest in five years.
However, subsequently shipment declined in the following years on account of loss of consumers’ appetite for leather goods and a lack of environmental compliance by local firms even if the COVID-19 pandemic hit the sector hard, thereby further reducing the exports.
Meanwhile, speaking to the media, Managing Director of Apex Footwear Ltd., Syed Nasim Manzur, reportedly, said that shipments have increased to the US and Japan while adding the export performance of the leather sector was better in the first quarter of the current fiscal year compared to the last fiscal year.
…however, the export to European countries is yet to pick up, reportedly, claimed the MD of Apex Footwear Ltd.
