Bangladesh's apparel exports to its major markets, the United States and Germany, have been declining for the past three months. This is due to a decrease in clothing consumption in western countries as a result of high inflation.

The United States was the largest export destination for Bangladeshi readymade garments in the first 10 months of the current financial year 2022-23, followed by Germany. However, exports to these markets declined by 7.13% and 7.33% respectively, according to data from the Export Promotion Bureau.

In contrast, Bangladesh's apparel exports to non-traditional markets increased by 30.80% in the first 10 months of FY23. The top non-traditional markets for Bangladesh's apparel exports are Japan, Australia, India, South Korea, United Arab Emirates, China, and Brazil.

The decline in apparel exports to major markets is a cause for concern for Bangladesh's economy, as the garment industry is a major source of foreign exchange earnings.

Exports to the United States declined by $533.78 million to $6.95 billion in the first 10 months of FY23, exports to Germany declined by $437.85 million to $5.53 billion in the first 10 months of FY23. Whereas, exports to the European Union, UK increased by 8.58% to $19.20 billion and by 10.88% to $4.19 respectively in the first 10 months of FY23. Banladesh’s exports to non-traditional markets increased by 30.80% to $7 billion in the first 10 months of FY23.

The decline in apparel exports to major markets is a challenge for Bangladesh's economy, but the BGMEA is taking steps to increase exports to non-traditional markets particularly in India, Japan, and South Korea. The association is also working to diversify the types of garments that Bangladesh exports, in order to make the industry more resilient to changes in the global market.

Apparel companies commemorate the ten-year anniversary of the Rana Plaza factory collapse by reflecting on the progress made in ensuring the safety of garment workers in Bangladesh.

Over the years, the Accord has brought significant improvements to 1,600 factories and safeguarded the lives of 2 million workers in Bangladesh. However, there is still work to be done as numerous factories await safety improvements and ongoing inspections are necessary to prevent regression into unsafe practices.

As the Accord is set to expire in October 2023, there is a call for a new agreement that will extend the program for at least another decade. This successor agreement should retain the key elements that have contributed to the success of the Accord, including international legal enforceability for brands, transparent monitoring of factory remediation progress, equal representation of companies and unions in governance structures, and the presence of civil society witnesses.

Despite the progress made, there are still brands that have not signed the Accord and failed to prioritize worker safety in their supply chains. Clean Clothes Campaign, Remake, and Eko recently launched a petition targeting these brands, urging them to sign the Accord. The petition has garnered over 63,000 signatures and continues to gain support.

A recent factory incident in Pakistan, where labels of Auchan, Hampton by Hilton, and Dunnes Homes were found, further highlights the urgency of implementing the Accord's program in Pakistan.

While 55 leading brands have already signed the Pakistan Accord, there are notable brands that have committed to ensuring safe factories in Bangladesh but have not extended their commitment to Pakistan. Brands like Boohoo, The Very Group, Lidl, Missguided, Esprit, Kid ASA, Matalan, Target Australia, Fruit of the Loom, and New Look have suppliers in Pakistan but have yet to sign the Pakistan Accord.

National Garment Worker Federation in Bangladesh has urged brands to sign the International Accord.

China is rapidly emerging as a global powerhouse in the fashion and technology industries, according to Daniel Grieder, the CEO of Hugo Boss.

In an interview with Xinhua, Grieder expressed admiration for China's ability to set trends that eventually make their way to Europe. He highlighted the Chinese consumers' insatiable appetite for novelty and their demand for not only high-quality products but also exceptional consumption experiences.

Grieder commended the tech-savvy nature of the Chinese population, noting their eagerness to embrace newness both in physical stores and online platforms. Hugo Boss has found success in China, prompting the company to announce plans for expansion. With a current presence of over 200 points of sale across 65 cities, the renowned fashion brand aims to capitalize on China's growing consumption power by opening more stores and introducing new sub-brands.

The first quarter of this year saw a remarkable 25 percent increase in Hugo Boss's currency-adjusted group sales, reaching a staggering approximately 1 billion U.S. dollars.

Encouraged by China's robust consumer demand, the company has set an ambitious target of achieving a 10 percent sales increase. Grieder attributed this remarkable success to the country's dynamic consumer landscape and expressed confidence in the positive momentum the company is experiencing in the Chinese market.

Better Cotton, the world's largest cotton sustainability initiative, has provided feedback to the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regarding its Guides for the Use of Environmental Marketing Claims (Green Guides).

The FTC, a bipartisan federal agency focused on protecting American consumers, introduced the Green Guides in 1992 to ensure that companies' claims about product sustainability are accurate and supported by evidence. The Guides are periodically updated to align with contemporary standards.

The Green Guides offer comprehensive guidelines applicable to all environmental marketing claims, including insights into how consumers interpret specific claims, methods to substantiate those claims, and ways for marketers to qualify their assertions to prevent consumer deception.

Better Cotton has participated in this ongoing review process to ensure that the FTC's guidelines acknowledge the agricultural aspect of cotton production and recognize progress at the field level. Notably, one of the key components of the Better Cotton Standard System (BCSS) is its Claims Framework, which assists eligible members in effectively communicating their commitment to Better Cotton in a transparent and credible manner.

Better Cotton supports the FTC's endeavor to establish a common framework, outlined in the revised Guides, that enables US companies to communicate their sustainability efforts in a credible, verifiable, and accurate way. This framework fosters a fair competitive environment for businesses and empowers them to set and communicate ambitious sustainability goals to an increasingly eco-conscious consumer base.

However, Better Cotton suggests that the FTC enhance the existing guidance by including examples of substantiation using various methods, rather than limiting substantiation to a single standardized methodology. The organization argues against establishing one standard methodology, such as lifecycle analysis (LCA) or product environmental footprints (PEF), for substantiating claims. It asserts that no universally applicable methodology covers all relevant impact categories for every product type.

Moreover, the implementation of a single methodology like LCA poses challenges when applied to an agricultural context. If the revised Guides adopt this approach, it would effectively prevent some of the most trusted and widely used sustainability schemes and their labels from providing environmental marketing claims for their members.

Japan is emerging a strong market for Bangladesh readymade garments (RMG) industry with a healthy growth of over 42 per cent to cross the billion-dollar mark in the first nine months of 2022. And this trend is continuing in 2023 as well. Although the US and Europe are the largest export destination as most apparels with the ‘Made in Bangladesh’ tag, due to their easier terms and conditions, the Japanese market is now far more accessible than in earlier. In FY22, Bangladesh RMG sector had contributed around 9.25 per cent to the country’s GDP and with around y 4,000 factories employing around four million workers, the RMG sector has always played a critical role in the country's economy.

Stringent Japanese quality control hampers import

Bangladesh, exported RMG worth $1.2 billion in the first three-quarters of 2022, up from $84,964 million during the same period of 2021 when the pandemic was still not over. If handled well, Japan holds a lot of promise in post-pandemic years when people cannot afford to spend as much as they did earlier. As per a CCF group report Japan's textile and apparel import has grown in March 2023, as it imported 232kt of textiles and garments, up 0.1 per cent year on year and 41 per cent month on month. Imports from China alone were a massive 125kt, up 1.9 per cent year-on-year and 64.4 per cent month-on-month proving that Japan's textile and garment import growth has rapidly picked up in the post-pandemic days.

However, exporting to Japan is not easy for small countries like Bangladesh as their quality control is exceptionally high and products not reaching the mark are rejected. Many Japanese retailers have a third-party expert to double-check individual pieces of garments from shipment as sample products before accepting the goods. Japanese retailers are definitely not going to lower their standards to help Bangladeshi companies so the ball is in Bangladesh’s RMG segment to achieve a higher a level of efficiency and quality and incur low wastage by-product rejection to penetrate the Japanese markets

Meanwhile, Bangladesh has worked on making its RMG industry more high-tech as the country’s economy depends on that. Many factories are now environmentally friendly and offer world-class manufacturing processes, to compete with China which currently has a 53 per cent stake in the Japanese market.

Trade shows to promote exports

Just like the US and other countries, Japan too is reducing its dependency on China in sourcing RMG products due to the alleged low quality of products, human rights issues and territorial conflicts involving China, and other reasons. However, Bangladesh has still not managed to get into the most favored import nation status for Japan, in spite of all its efforts. Meanwhile, Bangladesh and Japan hope to sign a Free Trade Agreement (FTA), which would give the apparel industry much-needed boost and a stronger footing.

The apex group of apparel manufacturers BGMEA (Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers' Export Association) is taking steps to increase their footprint in Japan. From events to showcase their RMG’s strength to importers to trade delegates the Association is taking numerous steps to boost business. The need of the hour is to get duty-free access for all textile and clothing products to Japan and other countries, to make the sector economically viable and achieve diversification and better quality in both export markets and domestic product lines. Indeed Bangladesh is now on a mission to increase its global RMG trade to be on better terra-firma this fiscal year.

Russia-based North Korean garment companies are facing a substantial increase in orders from local clients, leading to a surge in production, but concerns about quality persist, reports Daily NK. Production at North Korean garment companies in Irkutsk and Krasnoyarsk during the first quarter of this year doubled compared to the same period in 2022.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, these companies had suspended their onsite operations and assigned small teams of workers to perform various odd jobs at construction sites and elsewhere. However, the recent flood of orders from Russian clients has kept the companies busier than ever.

Interestingly, Russian businesses, which previously ordered military clothing in large quantities, have shifted their focus to construction overalls and ordinary clothing. The manufacturing of military clothing is generally more profitable than producing clothing for the general public. However, workers at North Korean garment factories no longer possess the needlework skills necessary for high-quality military clothing, prompting Russian clients to commission work clothes for construction sites or clothing for everyday use instead.

While North Korean garment companies are striving to meet the demands of their Russian clients, the need to improve worker skills and ensure quality remains a pressing challenge.

Hometex, one of the prominent fairs in the home textile industry, is gearing up to open its doors on May 16 at the Istanbul Expo Center.

The event is organized by the Turkish Home Textile Industrialists' and Businessmen's Association (TETSIAD), under the management of KFA Fairs, a subsidiary of the Bursa Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Last year, Hometex brought together national and international players in the home textile sector. More than 650 domestic and foreign companies showcased their new products, attracting visitors from 126 countries

Design Wind at Hometex will be a prominent feature of the fair, attracting nearly 850 companies as exhibitors this year. The fair will also host purchasing committees, providing new export and cooperation opportunities for companies. With the participation of buyers from Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, the USA, and the Turkish Republics, the fair aims to make a significant contribution to the sector's exports. Furthermore, renowned designers will incorporate manufacturers' products with their own interpretations, showcasing them to the visitors.

Cambodia's garment, footwear, and travel (GFT) goods, the country's largest export sector, continued to experience poor performance in the fourth month of 2023. Trade data released by the General Department of Customs and Excise (GDCE) revealed a decline of 24.63 percent in earnings from January to April compared to the same period in 2022.

In the first four months of this year, Cambodia exported GFT goods worth $3.10 billion, a significant drop from the $4.11 billion recorded during the corresponding period last year. The decline in exports intensified in April 2023, with a 30.42 percent decrease compared to April 2022, marking the largest monthly decline so far this year. March saw a decline of 14.60 percent, followed by declines of 24.54 percent in February and over 28 percent in January, all compared to the respective months of the previous year.

Analyzing the GFT sector, knitted apparel articles earned $1.39 billion till April 2023, representing a 28.5 percent decline compared to the $1.95 billion earned during the same period in 2022. Non-knitted apparel articles generated $754.72 million, an 18.1 percent decline year-on-year from the $922 million earned last year. Travel goods contributed $515 million until April this year, compared to $672 million during the same period last year, resulting in a decline of 23.3 percent. Footwear exports amounted to $436.91 million in the first four months of 2023, reflecting a decline of 23.4 percent compared to the previous year's $570.64 million.

Overall, Cambodia's international trade experienced a 14.1 percent decline from January to April 2023 compared to the same period in 2022, totaling $15.16 billion, as indicated by GDCE trade data. The sustained decline in GFT export earnings since the latter half of the previous year has raised concerns about factory closures and job losses. The GFT sector, which constituted 11 percent of Cambodia's economy, is the largest source of employment in Cambodia, providing jobs to over 750,000 people, with a majority being women. While the sector accounted for 41 percent of the country's exports until the end of April this year, it constituted 53 percent during the same period last year, highlighting the alarming downward trend.

Industry experts attribute the declining exports to excess or unsold stocks held by retailers in Europe and the US from previous seasons, resulting in reduced demand.

Reports indicate that as of February this year, more than 70 factories have closed in Cambodia, leaving 32,023 workers unemployed, of which 26,055 are female.

EU member states have shown their support for a ban on the destruction of unsold clothing in an effort to combat waste in the textile industry, which is responsible for one-fifth of the European Union's greenhouse gas emissions. Currently, nearly 6 million tonnes of textiles are discarded annually by EU citizens, with only a quarter being recycled. The proposed ban aims to strengthen the EU's environmental stance, but concerns have been raised by industry leaders and politicians who fear that excessive environmental regulations could hinder European economies. French President Emmanuel Macron recently called for a "regulatory pause" on new environmental measures, advocating for a focus on implementing existing laws.

Last year, Brussels introduced a plan to promote recycling and reuse across the EU, acknowledging the growing environmental issue resulting from the destruction of unsold consumer products, particularly due to the surge in online sales. EU member states have now taken a more stringent approach, supporting a specific ban on the destruction of "apparel or clothing accessories." France, Germany, and the Netherlands were among the countries advocating for the inclusion of this proposal in the EU's new "ecodesign requirements." While proponents of the ban argue that it aligns with the EU's environmental and recycling goals without imposing significant burdens on businesses, some diplomats express concerns that recycling or processing clothing to prevent destruction could result in higher prices for consumers.

The ban would exempt small businesses, while medium-sized businesses with up to 249 employees and an annual turnover below €50 million would be granted a longer adjustment period. The proposal still requires approval from EU ministers and the European Parliament before it can become law.

Both the sheeting and terry towel in home textile category, experienced a significant double-digit decline in import orders for spring 2023 arrivals in the January-March period compared to the previous year, reveals New data from the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Within the sheeting category, the decline was more pronounced than in the terry towel category. Import volumes of man-made fiber (MMF) sheets plummeted by over 25% in terms of U.S. dollar volume. Notably, China, the largest contributor to these imports, shipped 25% less in terms of dollar volume and 19% less in terms of units.

Pakistan, on the other hand, made gains in both metrics but accounted for only slightly over 3% of total MMF sheet shipments to the U.S. during Q1. The decline in the cotton sheet category was even steeper, with a 33% decrease both in U.S. dollar volume and units. Pakistan emerged as the primary source of cotton sheet imports to the U.S., representing 40% of units imported, surpassing India (36%) and China (16%).

In contrast, cotton terry towel imports experienced a milder decline compared to the sheet categories. The total imports by U.S. dollar volume dropped by less than 4%, while units decreased by 13%. Pakistan surpassed India with a 37% share of units imported into the U.S., while India followed closely with 36%. China's share was 14%.