BD's apparel exports to US cross pre-pandemic level in 2021

Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, Bangladesh fetched US$7.14 billion from readymade garment exports to the US in 2021, keeping the market as its single-largest destination without any duty preferences. The apparel exports to the US were 36.69 per cent or US$1.91 billion higher than that of the 2020 earnings worth $5.22 billion, according to OTEXA, an affiliate of the US Department of Commerce. The 2021 RMG exports also surpassed the pre-pandemic level of 2019 when Bangladesh earned $5.92 billion, reports FE. 

Industry insiders said a high demand for the Bangladeshi RMG, especially knit items, since the beginning of Covid-19 pandemic, significant rise in prices of raw materials and buyers' confidence about local industry's resilience and compliance have helped the exports grow both in terms of volume and value. Gradual economic recovery aided by the Covid-19 vaccination coverage, better control over coronavirus infection and a shift of orders from China due to the trade war between US and China also have contributed to the double digit growth, they added. In 2021, Bangladesh shipped 2.60 billion square metres of apparel items, up by 37.87 per cent from 1.88 billion square metres in the same period of 2020. After the Rana Plaza building collapse in 2013, the US suspended its GSP facility for Bangladeshi products though RMG products are not included in the beneficiary list. Bangladesh's apparel exports to the US declined to $4.83 billion in 2014, which was $4.95 billion in 2013, according to official data. Since then apparel exports to the US saw ups and downs and stood at $5.92 billion in 2019. But the exports again declined to $5.22 billion in 2020 mainly due to the pandemic.

Bangladesh's main competitors China and Vietnam also witnessed 29.40 per cent and 14.33 per cent growth respectively. However, the overall apparel imports of the US from across the world during the January to December period of 2021 also increased by 27.36 per cent to $81.59 billion from $64.06 billion in 2020, OTEXA data showed. In 2021, the US imported apparels worth $19.61 billion from China and $14.37 billion from Vietnam. Apparel exports from other major sourcing destinations like India, Pakistan and Cambodia grew by 39 per cent, 58.23 per cent and 20 per cent respectively. When asked, Faruque Hassan president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) said the US's overall apparel imports increased and so from Bangladesh.

The US buyers, who were very 'conservative' in purchasing apparel items due to the pandemic, have placed increased orders to cater for their growing demands while many of them have shifted from China and Vietnam due to the trade tension and Covid-led factory closure respectively, they noted. Besides, Bangladesh is now in a better position with its capacity and safety compliance to supply the products, he added. Exports in terms of both value and volume have increased while high raw materials prices and other logistic costs also pushed up the value, he noted. FazlulHoque, former president of Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA), said the demand from US buyers for the knit items went up between the end of 2020 and the beginning of 2021. "We the knitters were mostly focused on the EU market due to the duty-free facility there," he observed. But the trade war between US and China and the changing pattern of apparel use mostly due to Covid-19 have prompted the buyers to source from Bangladesh, he explained.