According to the US Department of Commerce’s Office of Textiles and Apparel data released on Thursday, the country’s apparel exports to the United States, the largest export destination for Bangladesh, in the first four months of 2024 declined by 14.44% to US$2.31 billion compared with those of US$2.70 billion in the same period of 2023.
At the same time, apparel imports by the US from Vietnam grew by 0.31%, while those from China declined by 4.42%, according to the OTEXA data.
The data showed that Vietnam overtook China to become the largest readymade garments exporter to the US in the January-April period of 2024.
Exporters observed that despite a recent increase in US demand for apparel, Bangladesh failed to capture a larger market share due to factors such as longer shipment times and higher production costs.
They said that buyers had been placing more orders with Vietnam and China recently, due primarily to shorter delivery times.
The data showed that the US apparel imports from China decreased to US$4.32 billion in January-April 2024, down from US$4.52 billion in the same period the previous year.
Garments imports from Vietnam increased to US$4.38 billion in the four months of 2024, up from US$4.37 billion in the corresponding period of the previous year.
The data also showed that the total US imports of readymade garments from the world in January-April of 2024 decreased by 6% to US$23.69 billion compared with those of US$25.20 billion in the same period of 2023.
Mohammad Hatem, executive president of the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association, said that despite an uptick in apparel demand in the US market, Bangladesh struggled to capitalize on this increased demand.
He identified prolonged shipment times a key factor hindering Bangladesh’s ability to seize a larger share of the growing demand.
According to Hatem, Bangladesh’s shipment times have been steadily lengthening due to issues such as customs-related delays at ports and production slowdowns caused by gas and electricity shortages.
He said that while major apparel manufacturing countries like China and Vietnam had experienced negative export growth globally in recent times, most other countries, except Bangladesh, had begun to narrow this gap.
Hatem pointed out that Vietnam had already shifted to a positive trajectory in exporting RMG to the US market.
“In Bangladesh, our factories are operating up to 70% capacity utilization due to energy shortages, prompting buyers to redirect orders to China and Vietnam for quicker deliveries,” he said.
Hatem also claimed that many factories struggled to accept orders at the prices offered by buyers due to rising utility costs and increased workers’ wages.
The OTEXA data showed that India’s readymade garments exports to the US market in the four months of 2024 declined by 5.02% to US$1.66 billion compared with those of US$1.75 billion in the same period of the previous year.
Readymade garments imports by the US from Indonesia in the four months of 2024 decreased by 8.46% to US$1.38 billion compared with those of US$1.51 billion in the same period of 2023.
The US apparel imports from Cambodia in January-April of 2024 increased by 7.92% to US$1.03 billion compared with those of US$951.93 million in the same period of 2023, the data showed.
