A resilient rebound in apparel trade buoyed the country's merchandise shipments as Bangladesh recorded over 30-per cent annualized export growth in the current financial year's first eight months.
Exports fetched Bangladesh $33.84 billion during the July-February period of FY'22, against $25.86 billion in the corresponding period of last fiscal, according to provisional data available with the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB).
The overall export earnings also surpassed the set target for the period by 16.5 per cent.
Besides, single-month export earnings in February also sustained the growth at 34.54 per cent to $4.29 billion.
February is the sixth consecutive month since last September that the country's single-month export earnings rose above the four-billion mark.
The February 2022 earnings also exceeded the target set for the month by 18.80 per cent.
Of the total $33.84 billion worth of export income during the July-February period, readymade garment (RMG) sector made the most fetching $27.49 billion, showing a 30.73-per cent growth over last fiscal's mark.
A breakdown of the clothing-sector performance shows that knitwear subsector of RMG earned $15.06 billion from exports, registering a growth of 32.87 per cent.
Earnings from export of woven garments amounted to $12.42 billion in the past eight months, up 28.23 per cent.
Home-textile exports recorded about 36-per cent growth to $993.76 million in the first eight months of this fiscal.
When asked, both Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) and Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) leaders termed the overall performance positive and attributed the advances to robust performance of the RMG sector, which navigated the pandemic troubles with minimal disruptions and rebounded strongly in a changed global trade equation.
BGMEA president Faruque Hassan says exports in terms of quantity and value both have increased followed by high price of raw materials and other logistics costs.
Regarding the Russia-Ukraine issue, he says, "We are worried over timely payment for the goods already shipped."
He advises the association members to communicate with their respective buyers regarding future shipments.
Talking to the FE, BKMEA executive president Mohammad Hatem, however, said exports would be higher if they (knitwear makers) used their full production capacity last month. He says many of the factories suffered due to poor supply of gas.
"The country has been witnessing a significant rise in RMG work orders in the last few months. We have plenty of work orders until May," he notes.
He also says they are not receiving the expected orders for June and July--and the reason is not known to them.
Meanwhile, jute sector, which demonstrated positive growth last fiscal, recorded a 7.34-per cent fall in the July-February period with $799.42 million in earnings, down from $862.74 million.
Earnings from agricultural items, including vegetable, fruit and dry foods, witnessed a 28.36-per cent average growth. The sector's aggregate earnings stood at $853.2 million during the July-February period.
Earnings from pharmaceutical exports stood at $130.57 million, marking a 21.28-per cent growth.
Bangladesh earned $784.98 million from leather and leather goods exports in the first eight months, registering 29.61 per cent growth.
Export earnings from frozen and live fishes increased 20.44 per cent to $407.1 million during the same period.
According to the EPB, export of plastic products witnessed 39.85-per cent growth to $100.75 million.
