Export earnings enter negative growth path

Bangladesh's export earnings again entered negative-growth territory after four months as this past March receipt missed both annualized and monthly targets, official count shows.

The exports by value recorded a 2.49-per cent decline compared to last fiscal's corresponding period and fell short of the month's set target by 7.50 per cent, mainly as performance of the main earner-readymade garments-slowed amid the prevailing global market tantrums.

Shipments fetched Bangladesh US$4.64 billion in March'23 which was US$4.76 billion in March'22, according to Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) data released Sunday.

The single-month earnings earlier in September and October last year had witnessed 6.25-per cent and 7.85-per cent negative growth respectively, according to the statistics.

Out of the $4.64 billion earned in the past month, $3.89 billion came from readymade garment (RMG) shipments, also lower 1.04 per cent than the earnings in March last year. In March last year, the country received US$3.93 billion from RMG exports.

Also, the overall export-earning growth during the first nine months slowed to 8.07 per cent and stood at US$41.72 billion against targeted amount of US$ 42.26 for the period, according to the EPB calculations.

The overall export earnings during the July-March period of FY 2021-22 were $38.60 billion, at a growth rate of 33.41 per cent.

During the July-March period of this fiscal year, the RMG sector fetched $35.25 billion, recording a 12.17-per cent growth compared to the corresponding period of the last FY. The country earned $31.42 billion from apparel exports in the corresponding period of FY '22.

Of the RMG industry, knitwear subsector earned $19.13 billion in the first nine months of FY '23, registering a growth of 11.78 per cent. Earnings from woven garments amounted to $16.11 billion, up by 12.63 per cent. Home textiles, however, witnessed an about 25.73-per cent negative growth to $859.94 million.

Asked about the latest industry situation, Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) executive president Mohammad Hatem attributed the decline in global demand for apparel items mainly to the high inflation in major markets fuelled by the Russia-Ukraine war.

"We were receiving less work orders and factories are running below their production capacity. There is no overtime in many factories," he said.

The BKMEA leader also held gas and electricity shortages responsible for their failure to run factories to full capacity, saying that they face difficulties in making timely shipment due to the energy dearth.

Talking to the FE, Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) President Faruque Hassan says exports in terms of quantity have been on a decline during recent months.

"Buyers were placing less work orders as they have huge inventory," he noted.

The BGMEA president also echoed Mr Hatem's views as he said there are many factories that don't have sufficient work orders and they have been running below their production capacity during the last couple of months in absence of work orders and other reasons.

Both the leaders apprehend that such trend of negative growth might persist in coming months, too.

Meanwhile, the jute sector that demonstrated a positive growth throughout the last FY experienced a negative growth during this nine-month period. Exports of jute and jute goods dropped 21.23 per cent to $698.7 million from $887.06 million in the same period of the last FY.

Earnings from the agricultural items like vegetables, fruits and dry foods also had a negative growth of about 28.31 per cent to $687.09 million during the July-March period of FY '23.

Earnings from pharmaceutical exports stood at $132.41 million, registering a 9.19-per cent negative growth.

Bangladesh received $919.73 million from export of leather and leather goods in July-March period of FY '23, registering a slim 2.56-per cent growth.

Earnings from footwear other than leather footwear grew by 5.73 per cent to US$358.26 million during the period. Engineering product shipments, however, declined by 33.65 per cent to US$400.28 million, according to data.

Export earnings from frozen and live fishes decreased by 20.5 per cent to $346.55 million in the same period.

According to the EPB data, exports of plastic products recorded a 34-per cent growth to $154.7 million.

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