Earnings from the country's merchandise exports posted a 24.29 per cent growth to reach US$19.79 billion during the first five months of fiscal year 2021-22 (FY22) on the back of ready-made garment (RMG).
The July-November export earnings in the 2020-21 fiscal year were US$15.92 billion. In Bangladesh, the fiscal year starts on July 1 until June 30 next year.
The overall export earnings also surpassed the set target by 13.27 per cent, according to the provisional data of the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB).
In the meantime, the single month export earnings in November'21 registered a 31.25 per cent growth to US$4.04 billion year-on-year. Bangladesh fetched $3.07 billion from merchandise shipments in November last year, according to EPB data.
The November earnings also surpassed the target set for the month by 13 per cent.
Bangladesh booked the highest-ever single-month US$4.72 billion export income in last October with rebound of apparel shipments from pandemic recession.
Out of the total $19.79 billion worth of export income during the July-November period, the RMG sector fetched $15.85 billion, recording a 22.97 per cent growth compared to the corresponding period of last fiscal.
A breakdown of the clothing-sector performance shows that the knitwear sub-sector of RMG earned $8.98 billion from exports, registering a growth of 25.91 per cent.
Earnings from exports of woven garments amounted to $6.87 billion in the last five months, up by 19.32 per cent.
Home-textile exports also recorded a 25.3 per cent growth to $563.6 million during the first five months of the current fiscal year.
Asked, Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) President Faruque Hassan said growth in export earnings would continue the same pace or even go up in the coming months due to the rise in both work orders and products' unit prices.
Though the apparel items' unit prices have not increased as much as the prices of raw materials like cotton, yarn and other logistics charges, exporters are getting a good price, he said.
Echoing the BGMEA leader, Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) Executive President Mohammad Hatem said if the ongoing Covid situation did not deteriorate further due to the new variant, there was nothing to worry about.
"Both buyers and we (suppliers) are observing the situation," he said, adding that they had sufficient work orders in hand.
What the buyers are asking is to ship the products fast, he noted.
There are no immediate effects of the new Covid variant and the ongoing lockdown in some European countries, said both the leaders, adding that exporters were following the required safety and other health measures.
"But the order flow might slow down if Covid situation deteriorates further with prolonged lockdown in western countries," Mr Hatem observed.
Meanwhile, the jute sector that demonstrated a positive growth throughout the last fiscal recorded a 17.45 per cent fall in July-October period with earnings of $456.83 million, down from $553.43 million.
Earnings from agricultural produce that included vegetables, fruits and dry foods witnessed a growth of about 24.37 per cent. The sector's earnings stood at $556.46 million during the July-November period of FY22.
Earnings from pharmaceutical exports stood at $90.61 million, marking a 29.78 per cent growth. Bangladesh fetched $465.85 million from leather-and leather-goods exports during the same period, registering a 27.41 per cent growth.
Export earnings from frozen and live fishes increased 23.39 per cent to $286.85 million in the first five months of FY22.
According to the data, plastic products witnessed a growth of 29.08 per cent to $57.06 million.
