Shawdesh desk:

Apparel shipment made a strong comeback in the just concluded 2021 from a major corona setback in 2020 with resumption of economic activities both home and abroad.

During the first Covid onslaught in early 2020, the export-oriented apparel sector passed a tough time because of wholesale order cancellation or suspension by the foreign buyers.

But a year later, RMG shipment made a sharp rebound with a record $35.57 billion RMG exports in calendar year 2021 with last six months’ exports surpassing the periodical target by a large margin.

In 2020, apparel export nosedived to $27.47 billion from $33.07 billion in 2019, official data showed.

The country’s monthly export earning hit all time high at $4.09 billion in December propelled by $3.16 billion apparel shipment that 52.6 percent year-on-year. During July-December period, RMG exports saw 28.02 percent increase to reach $19.90 billion.

“RMG shipment started rising after the prolonged lockdown across the globe were lifted and the ports were opened from August,” said Shahidullah Azim, vice president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA).

Besides, demand for products and their prices have also increased, which has been reflected in better apparel shipment, he thinks.

Local apparel makers were fortunate enough that they could catch two peak seasons – Christmas and winter – before imposition of new restrictions by the western countries due to new variant of Covid-19—Omicron, apparel makers said.

Lives and livelihoods in the EU countries and the US returned to normalcy from the outset of 2021 supported by their successful vaccination campaign.

As a result, buyers from these countries started placing orders for the summer and the spring seasons like that of pre-covid level. Moreover, military rule in Myanmar and serious spread of corona infection in India also caused transfer of some orders from there.

Even before the pandemic, European and US buyers shifted some of their orders from China to Bangladesh, while prolonged lockdown in Vietnam also helped in the rise in RMG exports from Bangladesh.

As a whole, the local apparel makers saw a 15 to 20 percent increase in orders in 2021 compared to that of 2020, according to industry insiders.

From the supply side, many entrepreneurs enhanced their production capacity to bag more export orders to recoup pandemic losses. Many factories introduced second shift work. Bangladesh also has performed very well in setting up green RMG factories.

Some 150 environment-friendly green factories have already been set up in the country while some are under construction. BGMEA leaders are hopeful of continuation of the export growth in the next couple of months as the western clothing stores are busy filling up their inventory.

Rising raw materials price in the international market also resulted in higher export earnings.

BGMEA leaders said most of the fabric stores in the western market did not buy products in almost two seasons due to pandemic.

After the return to normalcy, they are now rushing to fill up their empty stores.

Most of the western countries now want to continue both life and livelihood at the same time.

So, they are opening the stores even amid the spread of rise in Omicron variant, the industry insiders said.

BGMEA president Faruque Hassan is hopeful that the apparel exports would be able to add another $7-8 billion by the end of the fiscal year ending in June 2022.

The entrepreneurs’ efforts combined with various government incentives played a role in making this achievement, officials at the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) said.