Bangladeshi garment exports hit a record high in the last fiscal year, official figures showed Wednesday, helped by low prices that undercut rivals in the region.
The strong performance confounded initial fears orders would fall dramatically due to the demand-sapping effects of the global recession. Shipments of knitted and woven items jumped 15.5% to hit a record $12.35 billion in the fiscal year to June 30, the government’s Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) said. “We produce low-end products. No other apparel producers can beat Bangladesh on price,” export bureau chief Shahab Ullah told AFP. “Our manufacturers have become more competitive after the recession started to hit global exports from late 2008,” he added. A price war among Bangladesh’s 4,500 manufacturers had helped spur orders, Ullah said. Garment exports account for 80% of the impoverished country’s overseas shipments. “We have done very well compared to other countries in the region which have all posted negative growth because of the global recession,” Ullah said.
India, China and Vietnam are Bangladesh’s main garment export rivals. The Bangladesh data came a day after figures showed India’s garment exports fell by 15% to $2.4 billion in the first quarter of the Indian financial year to June. However, industry players said Bangladesh’s export growth came at the price of profit margins. Manufacturers said margins had been cut to the bone after they slashed prices to woo bargain-hunting retailers from the United States and European Union, which take 90% of the country’s garment exports.
“We cut our prices by around 20% to survive,” said Abdus Salam Murshedy, head of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA). “Our exports grew because manufacturers have boosted volume at the expense of profit margins,” Murshedy said. The companies are all unlisted and do not release profit figures.
The strong performance confounded initial fears orders would fall dramatically due to the demand-sapping effects of the global recession. Shipments of knitted and woven items jumped 15.5% to hit a record $12.35 billion in the fiscal year to June 30, the government’s Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) said. “We produce low-end products. No other apparel producers can beat Bangladesh on price,” export bureau chief Shahab Ullah told AFP. “Our manufacturers have become more competitive after the recession started to hit global exports from late 2008,” he added. A price war among Bangladesh’s 4,500 manufacturers had helped spur orders, Ullah said. Garment exports account for 80% of the impoverished country’s overseas shipments. “We have done very well compared to other countries in the region which have all posted negative growth because of the global recession,” Ullah said.
India, China and Vietnam are Bangladesh’s main garment export rivals. The Bangladesh data came a day after figures showed India’s garment exports fell by 15% to $2.4 billion in the first quarter of the Indian financial year to June. However, industry players said Bangladesh’s export growth came at the price of profit margins. Manufacturers said margins had been cut to the bone after they slashed prices to woo bargain-hunting retailers from the United States and European Union, which take 90% of the country’s garment exports.
“We cut our prices by around 20% to survive,” said Abdus Salam Murshedy, head of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA). “Our exports grew because manufacturers have boosted volume at the expense of profit margins,” Murshedy said. The companies are all unlisted and do not release profit figures.
