Woven garments' export makes great leap with granting of GSP facility
Thursday, 12 January 2012
Monira Munni
Export of woven garment has made a great leap eclipsing the growth of knit products during the current fiscal year as its demand surged due to the GSP facility offered by the EU, industry people said.
Despite the global economic meltdown export of woven items grew by 22.56 per cent in the first half of 2011-12 fiscal while knit items achieved a growth of 11.12 per cent.
The country fetched $4791.53 million from knit products' export and $4456.97 million from woven garments during July-December of this fiscal.
Knit products grew by 43.39 per cent while woven ones witnessed a growth of 40.79 per cent during the first half of the 2010-11 fiscal year, according to Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) data.
They said during the last five years the growth of both the sectors was more or less equal and knit products dominated as the top foreign currency earner.
But during the ongoing fiscal woven products started eclipsing the knit items' growth, they added.
"Performance of woven items is good considering the international market situation though it slowed down," president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) Shafiul Islam Mohiuddin told the FE.
With the new rules of origin that became effective from January 01, 2011, Bangladeshi woven garments exporters, using the imported fabrics for producing readymade garments in Bangladesh and then exporting those to EU market, are getting Generalised System of Preference (GSP) benefits, exporters said.
"The GSP facility in the European Union (EU) is also helping the woven garment makers to sustain their position despite the slow economy," Siddiqur Rahman, second vice president of BGMEA, said.
Orders for woven items, especially jacket, shifted to Bangladesh from China, he said.
The country witnessed a significant gap between the export performance of knit and woven items for last couple of months, which they termed as the highest in five years.
The manufacturers said the massive declining trend of knit orders and the GSP facility for woven garment makers recently given by the EU nations are responsible for the difference in performance.
"The gap becomes big as orders for knit garments declined and the GSP facility recently awarded by the EU boosted the export of woven garments," former president of Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) Fazlul Haq said.
For the first time in five years knit garments' export growth was lower than that of woven garments, he added.
T-shirts, polo shirts and sweater are the major knit items that are mainly exported to the EU countries especially Germany, the USA and France, he said.
"Export performance in recent months has been poor because of the recession in the European Union (EU) countries as 75 per cent of the knit products are destined to this region," Vice-President of BKMEA Mohammad Hatem said.
"The cooling of the EU economy bites our overseas sales resulting in a drastic fall in export orders," he said adding the ongoing energy crisis is an additional burden for the sector as the dyeing units are fully dependent on gas.
Knit garments exporters are in doubt whether the export target set for the current fiscal year would be achieved.
Export of woven garment has made a great leap eclipsing the growth of knit products during the current fiscal year as its demand surged due to the GSP facility offered by the EU, industry people said.
Despite the global economic meltdown export of woven items grew by 22.56 per cent in the first half of 2011-12 fiscal while knit items achieved a growth of 11.12 per cent.
The country fetched $4791.53 million from knit products' export and $4456.97 million from woven garments during July-December of this fiscal.
Knit products grew by 43.39 per cent while woven ones witnessed a growth of 40.79 per cent during the first half of the 2010-11 fiscal year, according to Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) data.
They said during the last five years the growth of both the sectors was more or less equal and knit products dominated as the top foreign currency earner.
But during the ongoing fiscal woven products started eclipsing the knit items' growth, they added.
"Performance of woven items is good considering the international market situation though it slowed down," president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) Shafiul Islam Mohiuddin told the FE.
With the new rules of origin that became effective from January 01, 2011, Bangladeshi woven garments exporters, using the imported fabrics for producing readymade garments in Bangladesh and then exporting those to EU market, are getting Generalised System of Preference (GSP) benefits, exporters said.
"The GSP facility in the European Union (EU) is also helping the woven garment makers to sustain their position despite the slow economy," Siddiqur Rahman, second vice president of BGMEA, said.
Orders for woven items, especially jacket, shifted to Bangladesh from China, he said.
The country witnessed a significant gap between the export performance of knit and woven items for last couple of months, which they termed as the highest in five years.
The manufacturers said the massive declining trend of knit orders and the GSP facility for woven garment makers recently given by the EU nations are responsible for the difference in performance.
"The gap becomes big as orders for knit garments declined and the GSP facility recently awarded by the EU boosted the export of woven garments," former president of Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) Fazlul Haq said.
For the first time in five years knit garments' export growth was lower than that of woven garments, he added.
T-shirts, polo shirts and sweater are the major knit items that are mainly exported to the EU countries especially Germany, the USA and France, he said.
"Export performance in recent months has been poor because of the recession in the European Union (EU) countries as 75 per cent of the knit products are destined to this region," Vice-President of BKMEA Mohammad Hatem said.
"The cooling of the EU economy bites our overseas sales resulting in a drastic fall in export orders," he said adding the ongoing energy crisis is an additional burden for the sector as the dyeing units are fully dependent on gas.
Knit garments exporters are in doubt whether the export target set for the current fiscal year would be achieved.