Global RMG buyers, retailers worried over political turmoil

Global garment buyers and retailers are concerned about sourcing of their apparel products from Bangladesh due to the political impasse and uncertainty that has already seriously affected the whole supply chain, industry insiders said.
Some of them had postponed their scheduled visit to Dhaka while many others are choosing an alternative place outside the country like Bangkok, Hong Kong and New Delhi to negotiate their orders over security concern, they added.
They said that buyers are very much scared over the ongoing political turmoil and they (buyers) appeared to be losing their confidence whether Bangladesh would be able to make timely shipments.
Though the manufacturers are going abroad for negotiating orders, the buyers may cut volume of orders and shift the orders to other countries, garment makers fear.
"A Canadian buyer who was scheduled to visit Dhaka recently has now chosen Bangkok to negotiate his next business order due to the ongoing unstable political situation," Md Shahidullah Azim, managing director of Classic Fashion Concept Ltd told the FE.
"I have no other choice to send my representatives to that destination," he said adding it would be an additional cost for his company.
It is very difficult for the exporters to arrange meetings in third country as the process is highly expensive and huge loss of man hour, he said.
Even, buyers' representatives did not feel comfortable to move inside the city on security reason, he said adding representatives of a big brand regretted for not attending a meeting held Monday at the BGMEA headquarters in the city.
"If the buyers' representatives don't feel secure to attend a meeting in the city, how can their foreign officials fly here," he posed a question.
Global buyers are frequently making queries and seeking to know when the situation will return to normal as they are worried over timely shipment of the items they ordered for, said Md Atiqul Islam, president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA).
It is the time to negotiate with buyers for the Fall season with the closing of Christmas season, he added.
 "We are very much worried over the situation as on the one hand, buyers are cancelling their meetings in Bangladesh and on the other, they might cut both volume of orders and prices and shift those to other competitor countries," he added.
The global buyers are now taking the advantage of the country's volatile political situation to offer the previous rates or in some cases lower rates," he added.
"Had there not been the current situation, we could push for higher prices," he said adding that it was unfortunate that the garment sector had to bear the brunt of such political turmoil.
The political situation is taking its toll on the sector at a time when it has started overcoming the negative impact of industrial disasters with many safety and compliance programmes, he noted.
If the situation prolongs further, it may not be possible to achieve the $26 billion apparel export target in the current fiscal year, he feared.
According to the BGMEA, the sector suffered a loss of Tk 4.50 billion for the last eight days of blockade.
munni_fe@yahoo.com