RMG export to US declines in first 5 months of 2023

Business Report :
Apparel exports from Bangladesh to the United States of America witnessed a significant fall during the first five months of 2023, as global economic slowdown, inflation and US rate hikes continued to dampen demand.
Several factors like the Covid-19 pandemic, Russia-Ukraine war, and unsold inventory l in the United States and Europe have all led to a fall in the exports, both in value and volume.
Bangladesh’s readymade garment exports fetched $3.30 billion during the past January-May from the single-largest export destination, marking a 19.16% fall, according to the data released on July 6 by Otexa, an affiliate of the US Department of Commerce.

The earnings were $4.09 billion during the corresponding period of last year.
The Otexa data also showed the same trend in shipment as it witnessed a negative growth of 30.91% to 1.01 billion square metres during the period, down from 1.47billion square metres in the corresponding period of 2022.

On the other hand, the overall US apparel imports in the last five months of the current calendar year declined by 22.92% to $31.51 billion.
Their apparel-import figure was $40.89 billion during the January-May period of 2022.
Under the overall economic downswing, Bangladesh, however, did a bit better than its competitors in garment export.
China and Vietnam — the key competitors of Bangladesh — counted contraction by 30.44% and 28.07% respectively during the period under review, Otexa showed.
Industry insiders said that Bangladesh was still in a relatively better position compared to other competitors that suffered a decline in exports at a higher percentage.
Bangladesh also benefited from the US buyers’ shift from China, and China-plus policy, they said.

But the Russia-Ukraine war has affected the demand, resulting in the high inventory of buyers and reduced work orders in recent months.
China’s share in the US apparel market was 37.32% in 2013, which fell to an estimated 21.75% in 2022, according to the data.
On the other hand, Bangladesh’s share rose to 9.75% last year from only 6.20% in 2013.

During the January-May period of 2023, the US imported apparel worth $5.76 billion from China, which was $8.28 billion during the corresponding period of 2022.
Vietnam exported apparel items worth $5.49 billion during the period under review, in a fall from $7.63 million in the corresponding period of 2022.