Bangladesh's RMG exports to US fall 19.16% YoY in Jan-May to $3.30 bn

The export earnings were $4.09 billion during the corresponding period last year.

Factors like the pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine war and unsold inventory in the United States and Europe led to the drop¸ both in value and volume.

The same trend was seen in shipments, which witnessed a negative growth of 30.91 per cent to 1.01 billion square metres during the period, down from 1.47 billion square metres during the corresponding period last year, Bangladesh media outlets reported citing the data.

Overall US apparel imports in the first five months this year declined by 22.92 per cent to $31.51 billion compared to $40.89 billion during the same period last year.

China and Vietnam—Bangladesh’s prime competitors in RMG exports—witnessed contraction by 30.44 per cent and 28.07 per cent respectively during the period.

China's share in the US apparel market was 37.32 per cent in 2013, and fell to an estimated 21.75 per cent in 2022, while Bangladesh's share rose to 9.75 per cent last year from only 6.20 per cent in 2013.

The United States imported apparel worth $5.76 billion from China between January and May this year. The figure was $8.28 billion during the corresponding period last year.

Vietnam exported apparel items to the United States worth $5.49 billion during the period, falling from $7.63 million in the corresponding period of 2022.

US apparel imports from India during the period witnessed a drop of 20.8 per cent to $2.13 billion, while Cambodia recorded a fall of 34.42 per cent, earning $1.19 billion.

ALCHEMPro News Desk (DS)