The US buyers’ shifting of apparel sourcing base from China offers an opportunity for Bangladesh to further develop its apparel industry especially the manmade fibre (MMF) segment, says a recent US study titled '2020 Fashion Industry Benchmarking Study' by the US Fashion Industry Association and University of Delaware (USFIA). Citing US official trade statistics, the report says the value of Bangladesh's MMF apparel exports to the US enjoyed 5.5 per cent growth in the five months of 2020. In contrast, exports from China and Vietnam suffered a significant decline as value dropped 44.5 per cent and 8.8 per cent respectively over the same period.

Mahmud Hasan Khan, Managing Director, Rising Group, reiterated the bottlenecks hindering growth potential includes the absence of backward linkage industry and infrastructure. The production of MMF items requires huge investment in backward linkage and there are few who want to invest amid the absence of required infrastructure including sufficient gas supply. In 2019, Bangladesh shipped apparel items worth $5.93 billion to the US, of which cotton items were about 77 per cent.

According to Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), out of 430 spinning mills in Bangladesh, only 27 are based on synthetic and acrylic fiber, and rest are cotton spinning mills. Out of the country's 2.05 million tonne of fiber import in 2018, the share of cotton was 93.57 per cent, said BGMEA.