Knitwear makers looking for new markets

Monira Munni Knitwear manufacturers are looking for new markets following a drastic fall in export orders during the last two to three months due to economic meltdown in the eurozone countries. A 100-member delegation from the knitwear sector will go to Japan in January next year mainly to explore the market potential there and establish direct sourcing, the manufacturers said. "Export orders drastically fell by 30-40 per cent in the last two to three months because of the recession in the European Union or EU," Vice-President of Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) Mohammad Hatem told the FE. "May-August is the lean period for the knit products but the scenario has changed as we are having such a period now all throughout the year," he said. Moreover, workers who usually do overtime following the lean period, leave these days the factory after the evening due to lack of work, he explained. The rate of growth of knitwear export slowed down to 17 per cent during July-October of the current fiscal year (FY) which was about 38 per cent during the same period of the last fiscal. The BKMEA leader said the situation might continue until January or February next. "We are now trying to explore new markets and diversify the items for the traditional markets," a knitwear manufacturer said. As part of the drive to find new markets for the Bangladeshi apparel, a knitwear trade promotion team visited Moscow recently to forge links with the Russian retailers and get them acquainted with Bangladeshi products, he added. "Japan is a potential market for Bangladesh," Fazlul Haq, former president of BKMEA said. Bangladesh's export to Japan is growing though the economy of latter is now under strong pressures, he said while expressing the hope that the visit by the delegation would bring good results for the sector. This is for the first time that such a large delegation is going to Japan to participate in a three-day fair scheduled to be held there on January 25-27, Mr Hatem said. Bangladesh's apparel export to Japan would have been doubled, if there had been no disasters, he said "Despite this, our products have a strong demand in Japan and what we need to do is to grab the potential market share," he added. Bangladesh exported knit products worth $ 53 million and $ 94 million in FY, 2009-10 and 2010-11 respectively to Japan. The country also fetched $ 120 million and $ 153 million in fiscals 2009-10 and 2010-11 respectively by exporting woven products to Japan. The country made shipments of knit and woven items to Japan worth $ 53 million and $ 77 million respectively during the July-October period of the current fiscal. The country earned $19 billion from apparel exports in FY 2010-11, posting an impressive 42 per cent growth over the same period of the previous fiscal. But about 85 per cent of the apparel was shipped to only two markets -- the US and the 27-nation bloc EU -- leaving the local exporters largely susceptible now to any major economic downturn in the world's two largest economies. In FY 2009-10, Bangladesh apparel export earnings fell down by a meagre two per cent after the global recession dried up consumer spending in the US and the EU.