Knitwear industry is the most significant component in thetextile industry of Bangladesh. It is the second largest sector in the countryconstituting a 32% of share in the export market. Availability of abundant andcheap labor, easily trainable workforce, and policy support of the Governmentoffer competitive advantages to the industry. Along with the increase inexports, backward linkages capacity also has increased gradually.


Africa offers potential market:


The immense growth of the knitwear industry has motivatedthe manufacturers to explore overseas market. Knitwear manufacturers of Bangladesh propose to explore potential market in African countries. During the financialyear 2009, exports of woven and knit garment exports to South Africa amounted to $42.51million USD. (Source: Export Promotion Bureau (EPB)). China is a major supplier of garments to South Africa, followed by India and Mauritius.


South Africa is a country rich in mineral values. The country has anuntapped market, offering profitable opportunities for garment exporters. EUand US were the major markets for Bangladesh. With the global downturn, anddeclining export orders, Bangladeshi exporters started exploring untapped andpotential markets.


&sec=article&uinfo=<%=server.URLEncode(2136)%>" target="_blank">Fibre2Fashionhad the opportunity to speak with Mr. Surinder Anand, Executive Secretary ofGarment Exporter's Association, and discuss about the knitwear industry of Bangladesh, and the situations favoring it.


  • What are the competitive advantages does Bangladesh have comparatively over its counterparts?


"First and foremost is thelower manufacturing cost due to cheap labour and simplified labour laws. Goingfurther, economies of scale because of bigger and larger manufacturing units;availability of fabric at competitive rates, simplified procedures, labour lawsare more flexible and conducive and last but not the least full support andblessings of their Government, while Indian conditions are discouraging toentrepreneurs."


  • How was the industry's performance during recession?


"Even in these recessionaryperiods, most of the garment companies had been humming with winter clothingorders and except for may be a slight dip in orders; the Bangladeshi clothingmanufacturers are comfortably placed versus their Asian counterparts and couldbe among the few countries that could be looking at a flat or marginal negativegrowth rate in 2009."


  • How would you evaluate the performance of the knitwear industry?


According to the statistics releasedby the Bangladesh Export Promotion Bureau, most of the sub-sectors like wovenand knitted garment have crossed their targeted figures in the period July-December 2009. Knitted and woven garments grew by 2.16 and 2.45 percentrespectively, textile fabrics by 8.16 percent and terry towels by 10.96percent.


Knitted Merino wool gets global spotlight:


The Australian Wool Innovation (AWI) has come up with a newOut of Bangladesh program, to source quality Merino knitted wool garmentsfrom Bangladesh. This would be a big, and commercially profitable option forthe Bangladeshi garment exporters who till now had proficiency in coarsercounts of woolen yarn.


Mr Kettlewell, Global Product Development Manager, AWI, in an exclusive interview with &sec=article&uinfo=<%=server.URLEncode(2136)%>" target="_blank">Fibre2Fashion revealsthe reason behind selecting Bangladesh for the project. He says, "Thereason for developing the program was to identify those knitters who are ableto work with finer merino yarns in finer knitting gauges than previously seenout of Bangladesh".


While speaking about the performance of the industry, Mr.Kettlewell remarked, "Bangladesh is the new source of knitwear for retailbrands around the world and retailers looking to source finer gauge merino woolknitwear from Bangladesh now know where to start looking and this project isall about making it easy for retail buyers to source merino wool knitwear fortheir shelves."


Knitwear industry in Bangladesh has acquired a newdimension. Competition is keen, and situation is favorable to the country.


References:

  1. &sec=article&uinfo=<%=server.URLEncode(2136)%>" target="_blank">http://bangladeshknitwear.com/
  2. &sec=article&uinfo=<%=server.URLEncode(2136)%>" target="_blank">http://bangladesheconomy.wordpress.com