🇧🇩 Textile & RMG Industry of Bangladesh (3 Viewers)

[Saif]

RMG sector's 'green' transition

There can be any discussion that excludes the readymade garments (RMG) sector when it comes to energy transition. It is an established fact that this sector of the economy is representative of around 85 per cent of annual exports from the country and it has developed into a global player as far as

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

RMG sector's 'green' transition
Published :
Jun 19, 2024 21:50
Updated :
Jun 19, 2024 21:50

There can be any discussion that excludes the readymade garments (RMG) sector when it comes to energy transition. It is an established fact that this sector of the economy is representative of around 85 per cent of annual exports from the country and it has developed into a global player as far as apparel market is concerned. Hence, when it comes to battling environmental pollution, carbon footprint, etc., it is natural that interventions must include the sector. Over the last decade, the RMG factories in the country have been undergoing a quiet transformation, starting from becoming the most compliant country in terms of safety measures.

Over time, Bangladesh has also come into the limelight with 220 factories becoming 'green' adhering to LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) - a globally recognised green building rating system that emphasizes environmental responsibility and energy efficiency. Reportedly, hundreds more factories are in the pipeline waiting for LEED certification and that points to a greater realisation by RMG owners that foreign consumers wish to wear apparels that are not only ethically sourced, but are made under environmentally-accepted conditions. The problem of course has always been financing. What was witnessed during Covid-19 pandemic was a slew of cancelled orders coupled with the fact that some of the major buyers of Bangladeshi apparels were refusing to pay for shipped goods. This created a lot of problems for RMG sector but those apparently have been ironed out and the sector has moved on. While the sector moved heaven and earth to become compliant on safety issues in the years after the Rana Plaza incident, the current global economic climate will not support the RMG sector to go green at the rate desired by foreign consumers because there simply isn't enough finance to make the impact necessary to make that happen.

In the midst of all this uncertainty, the much-needed (and awaited) green transition of the country's RMG industry has got a boost. What this means is that well-established global brands like H&M Group, Gap Inc, Mango and Bestsellter have committed to the first round of decarbonisation programme in the country. The financing model that has been launched is being headed by the Fashion Pact in partnership with Apparel Impact Institute, Guidehouse, and DBS Bank. This initiative intends to provide a "collective financing model" that will help support deep decarbonisation. Of course, the devil is in the details. Although it is mentioned that that technical and financial incentives will be employed to help more factories to adopt more environmentally-friendly electrification through the use of renewable-energy solutions, it remains to be seen precisely how much cost sharing will be done.

The initiative is a multi-year proposal that hopes to facilitate not only financial incentives but also technical support "to help suppliers identify and implement low-carbon technologies." A lot of promises have been made. While members of the initiative have been making enough noise that climate change is real and actions are needed, it is also a fact that successive COP conferences have failed to get developed countries to commit funds to already agreed upon climate-change funds for developing nations. One can only hope that the initiative (of collective financing model) will be backed up s with finance and technical assistance that is tailor-made for Bangladeshi companies and if that happens, decarbonisation can happen in a fruitful manner in the RMG sector.​

 

[Saif]

RMG exports to EU witness negative growth in Jan-Apr

Bangladesh's ready-made garment (RMG) export to the European Union has sustained year-on-year negative growth during the first four months of this year. It fetched 6.01 billion euro from RMG exports to the EU during January-April period of 2024 compared to 6.67 billion euro during the correspondin

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

RMG exports to EU witness negative growth in Jan-Apr
Global economic slowdown, energy shortage at home and long lead time blamed
MONIRA MUNNI
Published :
Jun 23, 2024 09:22
Updated :
Jun 23, 2024 09:22

Bangladesh's ready-made garment (RMG) export to the European Union has sustained year-on-year negative growth during the first four months of this year.

It fetched 6.01 billion euro from RMG exports to the EU during January-April period of 2024 compared to 6.67 billion euro during the corresponding period of last year, according to Eurostat data.

RMG exporters said overall import to the EU fell during the period in question due to the global economic slowdown, while Bangladesh lagged behind its competitors due to energy shortage, long lead time and customs procedure.

The EU's total apparel imports in the first four months of 2024 stood at 26.41 billion euro, which was 6.28 per cent lower than that of 28.18 billion euro during the same period of 2023.

China fetched 6.54 billion euro during the January-April period of 2024 against 6.66 billion euro, marking a 1.81-percent negative growth.

EU's import from Turkey and India recorded 11.84 per cent and 10.74 per cent decline to 3.02 billion euro and 1.52 billion euro respectively during the first four months of 2024.

Vietnam also recorded a 6.25-percent decrease to fetch 1.17 billion euro during the period, according to Eurostat data.

During the period, in terms of value, Bangladeshi made knitwear items became the top clothing exporter to the EU making shipments worth of 3.37 billion euro followed by China that fetched 3.15 billion euro.

When asked, Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) executive president Mohammad Hatem attributed high production cost, fuelled by a hike in utility prices and wage, to this negative growth.

"High lead time is one of the major reasons Bangladesh lags behind its competitors," he said, adding that competitors like China and Vietnam managed to reduce the negative growth rate unlike Bangladesh.

Due to the power and gas crisis, they could not utilise full production capacity, while facing difficulties in procuring raw materials timely, requiring 20-25 additional days to produce goods and make shipments.

"Currently, we need 70-90 days of lead time, which was earlier 50 days," Mr Hatem told the FE.

Besides, they could not receive orders at the prices buyers were offering mainly because of high production costs, followed by price hikes in gas and electricity as well as accessories.

The BKMEA leader also held customs harassment responsible for the negative growth, claiming that they faced difficulties in importing raw materials and making timely shipments.

Not only in the EU, Bangladesh recorded negative growth in the US and the UK too, he said, adding that these are the real scenario, although there is growth in the export data of the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB).

Talking to the FE, Fazlul Hoque, managing director of Plummy Fashions Ltd., also echoed Mr Hatem and added that though Bangladesh's main competitors China and Vietnam are able to gradually reduce the negative growth rate, Bangladesh could not make it up.

The former BKMEA president, however, commented that markets are yet to be stable and normal, and said there is hardly any possibility that the country's export growth situation would improve soon.

Bangladesh also recorded more than 14 per cent negative export growth to the US, its single-largest export destination, and fetched $2.30 billion during January-April period of 2024, according to US official data.​

 

[Saif]

Knitwear pushes up RMG value addition in Q3

Value addition in the country’s readymade garment sector reached a record high of 72.20 per cent in the third quarter (January-March) of the current financial year 2023-24 compared with that of 71.06 per cent in the same period of FY23...

www.newagebd.net

Knitwear pushes up RMG value addition in Q3
Staff Correspondent 25 June, 2024, 23:01

Workers sew clothes at a readymade garment factory in Narayanganj recently. Value addition in the country's readymade garment sector reached a record high of 72.20 per cent in the third quarter (January-March) of the current financial year 2023-24 compared with that of 71.06 per cent in the same period of FY23. | New Age photo

Value addition in the country's readymade garment sector reached a record high of 72.20 per cent in the third quarter (January-March) of the current financial year 2023-24 compared with that of 71.06 per cent in the same period of FY23.

This growth was primarily driven by increased shipments of knitwear products and other high value-added items, exporters said.

According to a Bangladesh Bank report titled 'Quarterly Review on RMG: January-March FY24', the import value of raw materials, including raw cotton, synthetic/viscose fiber, synthetic/mixed yarn, cotton yarn, and textile fabrics and accessories for garments, amounted to $3.84 billion in January-March of FY24, accounting for 27.80 per cent of total RMG export.

As a result, the net exports from the RMG sector stood at $9.97 billion in the third quarter of FY24, which is 18.70 per cent higher than the $8.40 billion in the preceding quarter and 14.49 per cent higher than the $8.71 billion in the same quarter of FY23, the report said.

In the third quarter of FY24, export earnings from RMG stood at $13.81 billion, marking a 17.30-per cent increase compared with that of $11.77 billion in the preceding quarter and a 12.69-per cent increase compared with that of $12.25 billion in the corresponding quarter of FY23.

Earlier, the highest value addition in the readymade garment sector was recorded at 71.48 per cent in the April-June quarter of FY23.

In the second quarter (October-December) of FY24, the value addition in the RMG sector was 71.35 per cent.

Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association executive president Mohammad Hatem on Tuesday told New Age that the local value addition in the knitwear products topped 85 per cent and the overall value addition in the sector increased to 72.20 per cent due to increased shipments of knitwear.

He said that that the export of knitwear began to increase after the initial shock of Covid pandemic, and recently the ratio of knitwear to woven garment shipments had stood at 55:45.

At the same time, the shipment of some of high value-added woven products increased, Hatem said.

According to the business leader, the local value addition in the woven garments is 45-55 per cent.

The BB data showed that export earnings from the knitwear sector in January-March quarter of FY24 reached $7.53 billion, marking a 16.26-per cent increase compared with that of $6.47 billion in the same quarter of the previous financial year.

Additionally, knitwear exports exceeded its target by 1.69 per cent for the third quarter of FY24.

Export earnings from woven garments in the third quarter of FY24 stood at $6.28 billion, marking an 8.69-per cent increase compared with that of $5.78 billion in the same quarter of FY23.

The data showed that in January-March of FY24, RMG exports to Bangladesh's nine main destinations — the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, Spain, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Canada and Belgium — totalled at $9.32 billion.​

 

[Saif]

RMG export to EU rises by 2% in 11 months

$21.64 billion worth of apparels were shipped to the European Union in the Jul-May period this fiscal year

www.thedailystar.net

RMG export to EU rises by 2% in 11 months
$21.64 billion worth of apparels were shipped to the European Union in the Jul-May period this fiscal year

Garment export to the European Union (EU) rose by 2 percent year-on-year to $21.64 billion in the July-May period of the current fiscal year.

Shipments to Spain, France, Netherlands, Poland and Denmark grew by 6.23 percent, 1.02 percent, 16.27 percent, 17.28 percent and 26.96 percent respectively.

On the other hand, garment export to Germany, the largest EU market for Bangladesh, declined by 10.12 percent year-on-year, according to data from the Export Promotion Bureau compiled by Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association today.

Apparel export to Italy also declined by 6.1 percent in the 11 months to May this year.

Meanwhile, apparel export to the USA hit $7.46 billion in the period, posting a 3.43 percent fall.

At the same time, exports to the UK grew by 12.34 percent year-on-year to $5.15 billion and to Canada it declined by 0.31 percent to $1.3 billion.

However, garment export to non-traditional markets grew by 6.47 percent year-on-year to $8.18 billion.

Among the major non-traditional markets, shipments to Japan, Australia and South Korea posted respectively 1.83 percent, 11.76 percent and 14.34 percent growth.

But apparel export to India decreased by 23.11 percent.​

 

[Saif]

Bangladesh\'s RMG exports grow in non-traditional markets except India

Bangladesh’s readymade garments exports in the July-May period of the 2023-24 financial year grew in all non-traditional markets except neighbouring India...

www.newagebd.net

Bangladesh's RMG exports grow in non-traditional markets except India
Staff Correspondent 27 June, 2024, 22:15

A file photo shows containers at the Kamalapur Inland Container Depot in the capital Dhaka. | New Age photo

Bangladesh's readymade garments exports in the July-May period of the 2023-24 financial year grew in all non-traditional markets except neighbouring India.

The country's apparel export destinations outside the European Union, the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada are considered non-traditional markets.

According to the Export Promotion Bureau data, Bangladesh's RMG exports in July-May of FY24 to the non-traditional markets grew by 6.47 per cent to $8.19 billion compared with that of $7.69 billion in the same period of the previous financial year.

But the country's apparel exports to India in the 11 months of FY24 declined by 23.11 per cent to $728.85 million compared with that of $947.86 million in the same period of FY23.

'We are optimistic about the future growth of Bangladeshi apparel to the non-traditional markets, as exporters are receiving better prices in those markets,' Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association senior-vice president Fazlee Shamim Ehsan told New Age on Thursday.

He said that Indian government had announced huge incentives on the investments in the RMG sector in some states to gain more share on the global market.

'With the government support, Indian manufacturers have already begun to increase their production capacity. As India expanded its capacity, Bangladesh's apparel exports have started encountering more non-tariff barriers in the market,' Fazlee Shamim said.

Although Bangladesh's apparel exports to major markets like the EU, the US and Canada have been struggling in recent months, exporters have remained optimistic about the future of non-traditional markets.

The country's apparel exports to the EU in July-May of FY24 witnessed a meagre 2 per cent growth to $21.65 billion while the earnings from the US fell by 3.43 per cent to $7.47 billion in the period compared with that in the same period of the previous year.

Among the non-traditional markets, Bangladesh's apparel exports to Australia in July-May of FY24 increased by 11.76 per cent to $1.18 billion compared with that of $1.06 billion in the same period of FY23.

RMG exports to Japan in 11 months of FY24 increased by 1.83 per cent to $1.48 billion compared with $1.46 billion in the same period of FY23.

Bangladesh's apparel exports to South Korea in July-May of FY24 increased by 14.34 per cent to $572.85 million compared with that of $501.01 million in the same period of FY23.

The country's RMG exports to Russia in the 11 months of FY24 increased by 15.50 per cent to $462.35 million while the exports to China grew by 23.23 per cent to $310.55 million in the period.

The EPB data also showed that Bangladesh's apparel exports to the United Arab Emirates in July-May of FY24 grew by 34.08 per cent to $368.94 while the RMG export earnings from Saudi Arabia increased by 58.28 per cent to $273.05 million in the period.​