Business Report :
The apparel export to the European Union (EU) – the largest destination of the country’s RMG shipment – witnessed an encouraging growth of 41.76% to $19.40 billion in the first ten months (January-October) of 2022, higher from $13.69 billion of the mentioned period of 2021.
The European Statistical Office (Eurostat) revealed the latest import statistics compiled by the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA).
In the period mentioned above, the EU countries imported apparel items worth $86.74 billion from its global sources, attaining a year-on-year (YoY) growth of 24.41% from $69.72 billion in the same period of 2021, Eurostat data stated.
According to the Eurostat data, China is the top apparel exporter to the EU, shipping apparel items worth $25.49 billion, fetching a YoY growth of 22.43% to $25.49 billion in the mentioned period, higher than $20.82 billion in the same period of 2021.
Followed by Bangladesh, Turkey is the third largest apparel exporter to the EU and also posted a YoY growth of 12.82% and earned $10.12 billion during the January to September period of 2022, higher than $8.97 billion from the January-October period of 2021.
Being fourth in January-October of 2022, India posted a growth of 23.46% to $4.24 billion from $3.43 billion in the same period of 2021, Eurostat data revealed.
Vietnam secured the fifth position by exporting apparel items worth $3.74 billion in the first ten months of 2022, fetching a YoY growth of 33.05% from $2.81 billion in the same period of 2021.
Among other notable global apparel manufacturers, Pakistan fetched a YoY growth of 28.55% to $3.24 billion, Cambodia 39.69% to $3.16 billion and Morocco 9.59% to $2.67 billion during the January to October period of 2022, Eurostat data showed.
However, among the top ten apparel suppliers to the EU, Bangladesh attained the highest growth rate.
Apart from the value, the unit price of the apparel items also grew by 2.29% to $22.22 per kg.
The unit price of Bangladeshi items posted a growth of 11.59% to $17.11 per kg whereas that of China, Turkey, India, and Vietnam grew by 4.35% to $23.02, 1.56% to $25.29, 1.76% to $23.13, and 2.54% to $30.48 per kg respectively.
The unit price of Bangladesh is still the second lowest among the top ten suppliers, only ahead of Pakistan ($14.49/kg), the data stated.
While talking, BGMEA Director Mohiuddin Rubel said that although the gap between Bangladesh and China is significant, Bangladesh has always been doing well in the European market.
“There is a gap of about three months in the release of Eurostat data. The European market has been facing a volatile situation which has been already seen in EPB’s latest country-wise data on December where growth in European markets is very narrow,” he added.
However, one thing to note is that Europe’s overall import growth has decreased but Bangladesh is always ahead of its competitors regardless of the import level.
“The market is impacted by war and inflation and we are also heading towards a negative situation in the European market but the focus and confidence of buyers on us are still good, due to which even if the growth slows down, we will at least do better than the competitors,” he added.