Bangladesh's garment exports to new markets soar

24 Jan '13

2 min read

There has been a record rise in Bangladesh’s apparel exports to new emerging markets during the first six months of the current fiscal year that started on July 1, 2012.

Indicative of a year-on-year rise of 24.11 percent, new markets contributed around US$ 996.89 million of the US$ 9.94 billion that Bangladesh earned from exports of woven and knit garments during the first half of the current fiscal, according to the data released by the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB).

Europe accounted for US$ 5.81 billion of the overall earnings for the period, while the US and Canada accounted for US$ 2.27 billion and US$ 478.92 million worth of exports, respectively.

Contribution of the non-traditional market in Bangladesh’s total garment exports increased to 10.02 percent during the review period, from 8.69 percent share during the corresponding period of last fiscal.

Bangladesh’s apparel exports to Russia, Australia, South Korea and Chile grew by 70.07 percent, 64.98 percent, 47.92 percent and 39.6 percent, respectively during July-December 2012.

In contrast, the share of EU and the US declined from last year’s 59.74 percent and 23.91 percent to 58.8 percent and 22.87 percent, respectively.

Analysts attribute the rise in clothing exports to non-traditional countries to the cash incentives introduced by the Government as well as the efforts put in by exporters to diversify to new markets in view of the slowdown in demand from traditional markets.

The new markets being eyed by Bangladeshi exporters during the past few years include China, South Africa, India, Russia, Japan, Mexico, Australia, Turkey, Brazil, South Korea and Chile.

In spite of a rise in Bangladeshi garment exports to new markets, they still remain much lower than the exports to traditional markets in terms of value.

Fibre2fashion News Desk - India

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