Apparel Online India Magazine July 2nd Issue 2018 | Page 49

BEYOND INDIA
Bangladesh RMG
ends FY '17-18 on
a high; touches
US $ 30 billion mark
Bangladesh’s apparel industry
ended fiscal year 2017-18 on a high,
touching the US $ 30 billion export
target, as pledged by the apparel
manufacturers and exporters.
According to the latest data from
the Bangladesh Export Promotion
Bureau, the US $ 30.6 billion
earning was an impressive 8.76 per
cent gain on a year-to-year basis,
exceeding the strategic export
target of US $ 30.1 billion by 1.51
per cent. During fiscal 2016-17,
the apparel export amount was
US $ 28.15 billion. Data shows,
June 2018 was a bumper year for
the apparel makers as this period
fetched US $ 3.36 billion. During
this month, the US $ 3 billion export
was crossed for the first time. Last
month, in May, the apparel exports
fetched US $ 2.82 billion.
As analysed by Apparel Online,
knitwear exports fetched a total
of US $ 15.18 billion during the
fiscal and US $ 1.54 billion during
July. Knitwear exports jumped a
whopping 10.4 per cent on a year-
to-year basis, the target set by
the manufacturers. Last May, the
knitwear exports fetched US $ 1.43
billion. On the other hand, woven
exports fetched US $ 15.42 billion
during fiscal 2017-18, and US $ 1.82
billion during July. For woven, the
export growth was still high at 7.18
per cent against the backdrop of US
$ 14.4 billion export last fiscal. Last
May, the woven exports amounted
to US $ 1.42 billion.
Meanwhile, the total export
performance during 2017-18 was
US $ 36.67 billion and the apparel
exports, as usual, occupied 83
per cent of the total export target.
However, the total export fell short
of the Government set target by
2.2 per cent. For June, the total
export was US $ 2.9 billion – what
fell drastically short of the export
target by 18.87 per cent. It is to be
noted that Bangladesh’s apparel
makers are putting out their best
to touch the US $ 50 billion export
mark by 2021. As a short-term
target, they were determined to
reach the US $ 30 billion mark
during fiscal 2017-18, and they did.
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