A file photo shows a worker sewing clothes at a readymade garment factory on the outskirts of Dhaka. Country’s export earnings in the first quarter (July-September) of the current financial year (2018-19) grew by 14.75 per cent to $9.94 billion compared with that of $8.66 billion in the same period of FY 2017-18 due to a huge growth in export of RMG products in the month of September. — New Age photo
Country’s export earnings in the first quarter (July-September) of the current financial year (2018-19) grew by 14.75 per cent to $9.94 billion compared with that of $8.66 billion in the same period of FY 2017-18 due to a huge growth in export of readymade garment products in the month of September.
Export earnings’ growth in September surged by 54.64 per cent after an 11.74-per cent fall in August.
In September this year, export earnings increased to $3.14 billion from $2.03 billion in the same month of last year, according to the Export Promotion Bureau data released on Monday.
The earnings in July-September of FY19 were 6.54 per cent higher than the target of $9.33 billion set by the government for the period while the earnings in September were 14.47 per cent higher than the government-set target of $2.74 billion, the data showed.
Although the year-on-year export earnings in September witnessed a huge growth, the month-on-month earnings in September decreased little bit from $3.21 billion in earnings in August.
Experts and exporters said that the export earnings witnessed a substantial growth in September this year due to additional shipments of goods in the month after Eid-ul-Azha holidays in August.
At the same time, the ongoing trade war between the United States and China raised the demand for Bangladeshi apparel in the US market, they said.
‘The export earnings growth in September this year registered a substantial growth compared with that in same month in last year as this year Eid-ul-Azha fell in August and additional shipments took place in September while the production and shipment remained suspended for 7-10 days in September of 2017 due to Eid holidays,’ Khondoker Golam Moazzem, research
director of the Centre for Policy Dialogue, told New Age on Monday.
Some other products along with RMG showed encouraging performances in the export growth in the first quarter of FY19, he said, adding, ‘we will have to see whether the growth was demand driven or not.’
Moazzem said it was a good sign that the demand for Bangladeshi products increased in the US and the demand in EU, the major export market for Bangladesh, remained stable.
He said, ‘There might be an impact of the ongoing trade war between the US and China on the export growth of Bangladesh as the US buyers are thinking alternative sourcing destinations beyond China.’
The earnings from RMG exports in the first quarter of FY19 grew by 14.66 per cent to $8.19 billion from $7.14 billion in the same period of FY18.
RMG export in September this year registered a huge growth of 51.05 per cent to $2.46 billion from $1.62 billion in the same month of 2017, the EPB data showed.
‘Really it’s a huge growth and we are happy with the performance of the sector. Export earnings growth in the month of September last year was negative due to Eid-ul-Azha holidays. This year we made a good number of shipments in September as Eid-ul-Azha was observed in August,’ Mahmud Hasan Khan Babu, vice-president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, told New Age.
He hoped that the RMG sector would be able to maintain desired growth in the coming months as the volume of US orders started increasing in Bangladesh due to the US-China trade war.
Babu also said that not only woven garment, business of knitwear also increased in the US in recent times.
Export earnings from knitwear in July-September of FY19 grew by 12.27 per cent to $4.20 billion from $3.74 billion in the same period of FY18.
The EPB data showed that the earnings from woven in the first quarter of FY19 increased by 17.30 per cent to $3.98 billion from $3.40 billion in the same period of FY18.
In the period, export earnings from leather and leather products, however, decreased by 17.46 per cent to $267.94 million from $324.62 million.
Earnings from leather footwear export in July-September of FY19 grew by 5.65 per cent to $175.52 million from $166.13 million in the same period of FY18 while the earnings from leather products fell by 54.09 per cent to $51.25 million from $111.64 million.
Frozen food and fish export decreased by 18.17 per cent to $137.70 million from $168.27 million.
Earnings from jute and jute goods in the first quarter of FY19 fell by 8.15 per cent to $ 216.87 million from $236.12 million in the same period of FY18.
Export earnings from agricultural products grew by 97.71 per cent to $291.82 million from $147.90 million.
The EPB data showed that the earnings from home textile exports in the first quarter of FY19 grew by 4.80 per cent to $202.99 million from $193.69 million in the same period of FY18.
Source: New Age.
