BD set to emerge as the fastest growing apparel exporter to USA

Bangladesh is set to emerge as the fastest growing clothing supplier to the US market in 2011, with Cambodia closely following it, according to a global market report.

The US apparel imports from Bangladesh so far in 2011 rose, in value terms, by 39 per cent. The exports of apparel by Cambodia to the USA witnessed a 31 per cent growth, in value terms during the some period, turning out to be the second fastest growing supplier in 2011. El Salvador and Honduras follow Cambodia with their apparel export growth to the USA being 23 per cent and 19 per cent respectively.

The report also said products from Bangladesh, Cambodia, El Salvador and Honduras -- along with Pakistan -- were the cheapest among the USA's leading 10 clothing suppliers' in 2010. Their success reflects the fact that the US buyers continued to seek low-cost supplies as the recovery of the US economy still remains tentative.

The information was revealed in the Trade and Trade Policy: The US Clothing Import Market, published in the latest issue of Global Apparel Markets by the UK-based business information company, Textiles Intelligence.

Admitting the fact, Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) president Shafiul Islam Mohiuddin told the FE Friday the confidence of the US buyers in Bangladesh and its apparel products "is growing".

"We have already proved our worth showing that we can do. We are performing better than Cambodia or China," he added.

A BGMEA source said 58 per cent of the country's total apparel export goes to the market in Europe, 34 per cent, to the USA and the rest, to the other parts of the world.

The Textile Intelligence report said growth in the case of El Salvador was slower so far in 2011 than in 2010 and in the case of Honduras it remained the same, indicating that major buyers are placing bigger orders with manufacturers in Asia as consumer-confidence returns.

The overall ready-made garments (RMG) export by Bangladesh in the first ten months of fiscal 2010-11 grew by 42 per cent against the corresponding period of the previous fiscal, coming to around US$ 17 billion.

"We expect to cross the target by touching about $18 billion after the June closing," Nasir Uddin Chowdhury, the first vice-president of BGMEA told the FE.

He said, "It's true that Bangladesh is the fastest growing supplier to the US apparel market, but it could be more if a few problems were addressed to bring more dynamism to the sector."

"In Bangladesh, there are some problems, which Cambodia does not have. The major problem in the sector is energy -- power and gas in particular. Also both the Dhaka-Chittagong highway and capability of railway as well as efficiency of Chittagong port should be improved," he added.

According to a recent statement by BGMEA that was placed to the government, the country's export-oriented garments sector is hard hit by shortage of power and gas.

The association leaders stated that the sector requires about 710 megawatts (mw) of power every day. But the RMG industries have been facing an average of five hours' load shedding per day.

Among other elements, Mr Nasir said there is a shortage of skilled workers. At present, the sector suffers from a 25 per cent shortage of adequately trained or skilled workers.

"In the absence of the right quality of manpower, the garments sector is heavily dependent on foreign technicians. Also productivity is compromised for a lack of an adequate number of technical people," he added.

At present, the total number of garments workers in the country stands at approximately 3.5 million. Manufacturers say productivity in the garments factories is not improving because of the low skill of the workers.

The country lacks training institutes to produce an adequate number of technical people. The supply of manpower in the sector is still inadequate, with its demand for quality human resources swelling to meet the needs for enhanced production capacities and more factory units, the apparel makers said.

The flow of orders from international buyers is increasing rapidly as production costs in China have climbed sharply. Work orders from international buyers are also rising as the country now enjoys duty-free, quota-free (DFQF) market access under liberalised rules of origin criteria in the European Union (EU) member-countries.

All the four countries mentioned earlier increased their product prices in the first two months of 2011 -- and so did their competitors, in response to the recent surge in raw material prices. There was an increase in the average price of US clothing imports as a whole, after price falls in the previous four years, the report said.