As per OTEXA, Bangladesh’s apparel export to the US, the country's single largest destination, registered over 16 per cent decline in January 2021 year-on-year mainly because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Bangladesh fetched $ 519.37 million in January 2021 through apparel export, down from $622.82 million over the corresponding month of 2020, according to data of the Office of Textiles and Apparel (OTEXA) - affiliated with the US Department of Commerce.
In the first month of 2021, Bangladesh shipped 198.66 million sq m of apparel items, whereas the export was 219.08 million sq m in January 2020.
The country fetched $5.22 billion in 2020, which was $5.92 billion in 2019, according to data.
Experts and exporters attributed the poor performance of ready-made garments (RMG) export to the US to sluggish demand, higher COVID infection rate, change in sales pattern, and election-related uncertainties.
However, some of the local exporters were still upbeat, as they were getting more queries in the recent months compared to three to six months back.
Fazlee Shamim Ehsan, director of the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA), said local RMG export to almost all major destinations witnessed a negative growth throughout last year mainly because of the coronavirus outbreak, and the US market was not an exception.
The pandemic also squeezed the demand, followed by the shutdown of retail shops amid lockdown in the US, he explained.
The virus outbreak also changed the sales pattern that resulted in placing small quantity orders instead of bulk ones.
