April exports recorded negative growth of $3.91 billion

Bangladesh’s merchandise exports have missed targets so far in this fiscal, with April profits of $3.91 billion recording a negative year-on-year growth of 0.99 percent.

Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) data released on Thursday showed that last month’s revenues also fell short of target at 16.78 percent.

The government has set a target of $4.70 billion in monthly export earnings for April this year, the tenth month of the 2023-2024 fiscal year.

Of the total revenue worth $3.91 billion in April, readymade garments (RMG) alone has generated $3.29 billion, which also registered a negative growth of 1.0 percent in its share.

However, the country’s total export trade during the last ten months of the current fiscal year (FY), July to April, showed a growth of 3.93 percent to $47.47 billion year-on-year.

But profits fell 6.87 percent short of the target for the period.

During the July-April period of the 2022-2023 financial year, Bangladesh had earned $45.67 billion, the EPB data showed.

As usual, apparel shipments overwhelmingly dominated the bill in both cases due to the lack of major breakthroughs in the government’s emphasis on diversification of the export basket and market.

Of the total $47.47 billion, RMG has raised $40.49 billion during July-April 2023-2024, registering a 4.97 percent YoY growth.

The knitwear sub-sector earned $22.87 billion with a growth of 9.11 percent and woven garments earned $17.61 billion, almost the same as the profit in the corresponding period, according to the EPB data.

On the other hand, the home textiles sub-sector witnessed a decline of 25.32 percent during the last July-April period, with profits of $702.56 million.

Asked about the trade performance, Mohammad Hatem, executive chairman of the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA), said it was expected that shipments could show negative growth in April due to more than a week of Eid holidays.

Commenting on work orders, he said that work orders have been coming to Bangladesh in recent months but it is still not at a satisfactory level.

“But we cannot receive all work orders because buyers offer prices below the cost of production,” he notes, in an implicit reference to situations in export destinations that are also subject to economic volatility.

Fazlul Hoque, managing director of Plummy Fashions Ltd, said China has been more desperate than Bangladesh to get the orders lately and has been offering lower prices.

In contrast, Bangladesh has no chance of becoming desperate in this regard as recent increases in wages, energy costs and other costs have pushed up production costs, he noted.

“Even the forecast also indicates a further increase in gas prices,” he told the FE, about the likely increase in fuel prices.

According to EPB data, exports of jute and jute goods during the period under review stood at $716.44 million, down 7.05 percent.

However, income from agricultural products such as vegetables, fruits and dry foodstuffs showed a growth of 6.12 percent to $774.49 million in the last ten months.

Export earnings from technical products fell slightly by 0.04 percent to $436.35 million in the July-April period, while exports of frozen and live fish fell by 13.34 percent to $321.93 million.

The country received $872.45 million from leather and leather goods exports in July and April, registering a negative growth of 13.32 percent.

Pharmaceutical exports brought in $169.62 million, a growth of 17.25 percent.

Exports of non-leather footwear items also rose 8.71 percent to $425.15 million.

The EPB data also showed that exports of plastic products recorded a growth of 17.87 percent to $201.09 million.

Bangladesh achieved a record high of $55.55 billion in goods export revenues in the last fiscal year, thanks to double-digit growth in readymade garments.

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