China seizes India's yarn & fabric market share in Bangladesh

China supplied 95.61 per cent of the yarn in Bangladesh’s total imports worth $257.492 million in January–February 2025. Imports from China were valued at $246.183 million during the same period. India was no longer among the leading suppliers. In contrast, India had been the top yarn supplier in 2024, accounting for 53.66 per cent of Bangladesh’s total yarn imports, which were valued at $3,264.805 million. Imports from India during that year stood at $1,751.959 million, while China supplied yarn worth $1,224.864 million, representing a 37.52 per cent share, according to Fibre2Fashion's market insight tool TexPro.

Bangladesh witnessed a regime change in August 2024, ousting the Sheikh Hasina government. During the third quarter of 2024 (July–September), India was the top supplier with a 59.08 per cent share. China’s share was 31.11 per cent during the same quarter, when Bangladesh’s total yarn imports stood at $761.362 million. India retained its leading position in the following quarter (October–December 2024), supplying $492.650 million worth of yarn (59.81 per cent) out of total imports of $823.632 million. Imports from China during this period were valued at $276.774 million (33.60 per cent). However, India has lost the entire yarn export market share to China in the first two months of the current year.

As per TexPro, India was the second-largest fabric supplier to Bangladesh in 2024, with a market share of 8.47 per cent. But China seized this share, taking full control of the trade in the current year. Bangladesh imported fabric worth $1,121.632 million in the first two months of 2025, of which shipments from China accounted for $1,034.819 million (92.26 per cent). Imports from India during this period were negligible.

In 2024, Bangladesh imported fabric worth $6,951.199 million from China (78.46 per cent share) and $750.566 million from India (8.47 per cent share). The country had imported $2,120.308 million worth of fabric in July–September 2024 and $2,555.364 million in October–December 2024. China’s share in fabric imports increased from 76.48 per cent in the third quarter to 82.33 per cent in the fourth quarter, and further to 92.26 per cent in the first two months of 2025. India’s share was 8.20 per cent in the third quarter and rose slightly to 8.47 per cent in the fourth quarter. However, India’s penetration has declined to negligible levels so far in 2025.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (KUL)