Bangladesh garment exports up 2.39% in July-March FY17

The increase in the value of garment exports was lower than the 3.97 per cent growth registered in overall exports by Bangladesh during the nine-month period.

Category-wise, knitwear exports rose 4.85 per cent to $10.143 billion in the first nine months of fiscal 2016-17, as against exports of $9.674 billion during the same months of the previous fiscal, as per the data. Germany was the largest importer accounting for $2.141 billion of all knitwear exported from Bangladesh, followed by the United Kingdom with imports of goods valued at $1.227 billion.

Likewise, exports of woven apparel increased by 0.18 per cent to $10.785 billion during the nine-month period under review, compared to exports of $10.765 billion during July-March 2015-16. The United States was the largest importer with $2.898 billion worth of woven clothing supplied by Bangladesh.

Woven and knitted apparel and clothing accessories’ exports together accounted for 80.66 per cent of $25.946 billion worth of total exports made by Bangladesh during the period under review.

In the previous fiscal that ended on June 30, 2016, garment exports earned $28.094 billion for Bangladesh, showing an increase of 10.21 per cent over $25.491 billion exports made in 2014-15. Of this, knitwear accounted for $13.355 billion while woven apparel constituted $14.738 billion.

For fiscal 2016-17, Bangladesh has set apparel export target of $30.379 billion, with knitted and woven categories contributing $14.169 billion and $16.210 billion respectively. (RKS)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk – India