BD fetches $1b from World Cup sportswear exports

The World Cup Football that begins in Brazil from June 12 next has opened up new business window for the Bangladesh apparel industry, mainly for production and export of World Cup jerseys by the country's knitwear factories.
The boost has come in the form of exports of over 500 billion pieces of jerseys, mostly T-shirts for the world cup fans, valued at about $1.0 billion dollar.
The country's shipment of garments is estimated to grow by around 14 per cent this year with the world cup orders playing a key role, Mohammad Hatem, acting president of Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) told the Financial Express Wednesday.
He said the country's garments exports may hit a record $25 billion this fiscal ending on June 30 next. The amount is $3.0 billion more than what was fetched last fiscal. A big part of this rise in export can be attributed to the world cup merchandise, industry insiders said.
Over 100 factories in Bangladesh worked on the orders mainly fielded by European retail chains like Puma and Adidas. They will supply the market with outsourcing obviously from some other apparel makers through their network in Europe, Brazil and Latin American countries, Mohammed Hatem said.  
He said the world cup has added a new boost to the industry at a time when the Rana Plaza and some other incidents were hurting the country's image. Meanwhile, the industry has also achieved a lot of transformation to repair the image crisis.
He said most orders were placed late last year and shipments were cleared by March last so that the consignments reach their destinations on time.
He said the knitwear sector has over 1000 factories which have the capacity to supply sportswear to the global market four times of the requirement. Meanwhile Bangladesh knitwear industry is also producing high value sportswear like the world cup jerseys and they have the state of the arts factory equipment to work on supply.
About 30 per cent of their capacity is now dedicated to producing high value products; Hatem said adding they are waiting to grab a big portion of the Chinese supply of sportswear to the global market as the production of the same in China has become costlier.  
Hatem said Bangladesh supply jerseys for fans of almost all world cup teams. Suppliers like Puma, Adidas and others consider Bangladesh first because of its low cost and high quality.
The industry has the capacity to fetch over $ 5 billion alone from sportswear exports, he said adding he had worked for the European buyers, along with part of the order coming from a Brazilian source.
He said Bangladesh is also supplying sports wear to Japan and Australia, in addition to Europe and part of the US market. This industry has the biggest potential in waiting, he said.
The world cup kicks off in Sao Paulo city, where 65,000 spectators are expected to attend the opening match.