With the major economies recovering from the Covid-19 fallouts, Bangladesh's RMG exports bounced back strongly as the shipment of the prime export item is on the rise to the European Union (EU) and the United States (US) markets.
Apparel export to the US, the single largest export destination of Bangladesh clothes, witnessed a double digit growth during the first five-months of 2021 against the volume and value of the same period of the last year (2020).
During the period from January to May, 2021 apparel exports to the US grew by 15.38 per cent to US$ 2.58 billion, according to the Office of Textiles and Apparel (OTEXA), an affiliate of the US Department of Commerce.
Bangladesh earned US$ 2.24 billion during the corresponding period of 2020.
According to the data of Export Promotion Bureau, Bangladesh (EPB),overall clothing export increased by12.55 percent to US$31456.73 million during July-May period of the fiscal year 2020-21 (FY21) against US$27949.19 million of FY20.
BGMEA leaders expressed high hope that apparel export to the European and the US markets would increase further significantly due to the start of economic recovery aided by the good coverage of Covid-19 vaccination.
During the January-May period of the 2021, Bangladesh shipped 1.02 billion square meters of apparel items, up from 807.67 million square meters or 27.30 per cent to the US during the same period of FY20.
When contacted, a leader of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) said the US economy is slowly recovering from the adverse impact of Covid-19 with the rise in consumer spending.
During the January-May period of FY21, clothing export to European market also increased significantly.
According to the EPB, Germany imported knitwear worth US$2,563.03 million, woven garments US$2,069.63 million while home textile items valued US$99.97 million. Bangladesh's export to Germany was US$4,450.80 million during the same period of the last fiscal year (FY20).
The United Kingdom (UK) is the third largest export destination of Bangladesh and during the July-April period of FY21, Bangladesh fetched US$3,170.22 million from the UK through exporting apparel items, crustaceans and bi-cycle. The export to the UK during the same period of FY20 was US$3094.30 million.
The UK imported woven products of US$1,122.89 million, knitwear items of US$1,790.53 million, home textile products of US$82.21 million and bi-cycle valued US$37.67 million.
Other major export destinations of Bangladesh include French, Spain, Italy, Canada, Belgium, the Netherlands, Japan, China, Turkey, Australia, India, Russia and Poland.
According to the EPB, Bangladesh exported different products worth US$ 1,609.34 million to French, US$1,956.75 million to Spain, US$1,079.98 million to Italy, US$938.10 million to Canada, US$577.42 million to Belgium, US$1,947.78 million to the Netherlands, US$1,004.50 million to Japan, US$ 713.97 million to Australia, US$532.63 million to Russia and US$1229.70 million to Poland.
Bangladesh's export to neighbouring India increased by US$31.08 million to US$ US$1,077.52 million during the July-April period of FY21, which was US$10,46.44 million during the same period of FY20.
India imported jute and jute goods worth US$ 111.75 million, woven and knitwear garments worth US$ 368.16 million, cotton and cotton products worth US$30.26 million, leather and leather products worth US$40.17 million and plastic products worth US$10.13 million.