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The country's apparel exports to the United States fell by 11.73 per cent to US$ 5.22 billion in 2020 year on year mainly due to the adverse impact of Covid-19 pandemic.
Bangladesh fetched $ 5.92 billion in 2019 through exporting readymade garments (RMG) to the single-largest export destination, according to data of the Office of Textiles and Apparel (OTEXA) affiliated with the US Department of Commerce.
The country shipped 1.88 billion square metres of apparel items in 2020 which was 2.0 billion square metres in 2019.
Experts and exporters have attributed sluggish demand followed by higher Covid infection rate, changing pattern of sales and election related uncertainties for the poor performance there.
The OTEXA data also showed that the total apparel imports by the US declined by 23.46 per cent to $64.07 billion last year which was $83.70 billion in 2019.
China, the largest exporter to the US, also witnessed a 39.16 per cent negative growth with earnings of $15.15 billion in 2020. The country shipped apparel items worth $24.91 billion in 2019.
Vietnam's RMG exports to the market declined by 7.25 per cent to $12.57 billion last year, down from $13.55 billion in the previous year. The US RMG imports from Cambodia, however, increased by 5.45 per cent to $2.82 billion.
The US apparel imports from India fell by 25.58 per cent to $3.02 billion in 2020.
Indonesian exports to the US also decreased by 20.09 per cent to $ 3.51 billion, data showed.
When asked, Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) president Dr Rubana Huq said that when the outbreak of Covid-19 shattered the whole world, the lockdown and restrictions were immediately imposed to curb the spread of the deadly virus.
"As a result, the retail sales and demand in the western world led towards the worst-ever Christmas sales the world has ever seen," she noted.
Cambodia surprisingly did better with a positive growth and Bangladesh is holding a very shaky position compared to its fellow opponents.
Citing data of July-December period of 2020, Ms Huq said the US apparel imports from Bangladesh declined by 3.19 per cent y-o-y whereas their global apparel imports dropped by 17.25 per cent, and their imports from Cambodia and Pakistan puffed-up with positive growth of 6.89 per cent and 8.16 per cent respectively.
The growth in the last half of 2020 indicated the possible impact of the second wave of Covid-19, she said, adding that Bangladesh's performance looked more challenging.
Talking to the FE, Fazlee Shamim Ehsan, director of Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA), said the overall RMG exports to the major destinations in 2020 witnessed a negative growth, and the US market was not an exception, mainly because of the pandemic.
The demands were also slow due to the shutdown of retail shops amid lockdown in the US, he added.
Moreover, the Covid-19 has changed the sales pattern that resulted in placing small-quantity orders instead of bulk ones, he said, adding Bangladesh could not take the advantage of or cope with such changes.
Regarding Vietnam, he said the country did better as compared to Bangladesh due to their Covid management that lured more US buyers placing orders there.
The exporters, however, said that better export performance in the days ahead largely depends on successful implementation of the vaccination programmes in the apparel importing countries, especially the European Union and the USA.
Explaining the better performance of knitwear items, they said Bangladesh is in a good position for quick delivery of knit items thanks to its backward linkage industry.
And the USA, a large market for woven items, has been hit hard by the pandemic, they said, adding that for woven items, the buyers prefer countries having strong backward linkage industries.
Bangladesh is largely depended on imported woven fabrics as local suppliers can meet only 30-35 per cent of the demand.
According to the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) data, the export of woven items to the US decreased by over 22 per cent to US$ 3.49 billion in 2020 which was $4.49 billion in 2019.
Knitwear items fetched $1.56 billion last year, up from $1.52 billion in 2019, the EPB data showed.