Leather exports shrink in July-Sept period
Economic Reporter :
The country’s export earnings from leather and leather goods contracted during the first quarter of current fiscal year.
Bangladesh fetched US$ 225.15 million from leather and leather goods exports during the July-September period of FY 2020-21 and thereby posted a 19.49 per cent negative growth over the corresponding period of the last fiscal.
Shipment of the sector was $1.23 billion in FY2016-17 and since then it has continued falling and stood at $797.6 million in FY 2019-20, according to official data of the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB).
Exporters attributed the fall in export earnings to the failure in using local raw materials due to compliance issues, sluggish global demand and a shift in synthetic items. The pandemic is the latest blow to the industry.
The scenario for the leather goods and footwear industry, the country’s second-promising sector after RMG, looks bleak as overall consumption has declined along with predictions that footwear consumption might decline by 22.5 per cent by the end of the year 2020, according to the findings of a recent a2i research titled “Post- Covid-19 Jobs and Skills in Bangladesh.”
As Covid-19 has re-emerged in Europe and the continent, Bangladesh’s biggest leather export market, the leather goods and footwear sector will suffer from huge losses, it added.
The country’s export earnings from leather and leather goods contracted during the first quarter of current fiscal year.
Bangladesh fetched US$ 225.15 million from leather and leather goods exports during the July-September period of FY 2020-21 and thereby posted a 19.49 per cent negative growth over the corresponding period of the last fiscal.
Shipment of the sector was $1.23 billion in FY2016-17 and since then it has continued falling and stood at $797.6 million in FY 2019-20, according to official data of the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB).
Exporters attributed the fall in export earnings to the failure in using local raw materials due to compliance issues, sluggish global demand and a shift in synthetic items. The pandemic is the latest blow to the industry.
The scenario for the leather goods and footwear industry, the country’s second-promising sector after RMG, looks bleak as overall consumption has declined along with predictions that footwear consumption might decline by 22.5 per cent by the end of the year 2020, according to the findings of a recent a2i research titled “Post- Covid-19 Jobs and Skills in Bangladesh.”
As Covid-19 has re-emerged in Europe and the continent, Bangladesh’s biggest leather export market, the leather goods and footwear sector will suffer from huge losses, it added.
