Exports to major destinations falter in July [ Tritiyo Matra News ]

Exports to major destinations falter in July

Local August 15, 2016

Country’s exports to most of the major destinations declined in July, the first month of the current financial year 2016-17, due to a decreased shipment of the readymade garment products in the month.
Experts and exporters said that the shipment of RMG, the major export item of the country, in the month of July was lower than that in the same month of the previous year due to a nine-day vacation for Eid-ul-Fitr.
Export earnings from the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, Canada and Japan witnessed a negative growth in the first month of FY17.
Export earnings, however, increased in France, Spain and Belgium but the growths were minimal, according to the Export Promotion Bureau data.
According to the EPB data, export earnings from the US dropped by 13.39 per cent to $421.72 million in July of FY17 from $486.97 million in the same month of FY16 while the earnings from Germany fell by 1.44 per cent to $394.86 million from $400.64 million.
The US is the biggest export destination for Bangladesh while Germany is the second biggest destination and the export earnings from the two countries in FY16 were $6.22 billion and $4.98 billion respectively.
‘Export earnings in July witnessed a negative growth due to the lower shipment in the month as production at the factories remained suspended for seven to 10 days due to Eid vacation. I think the trend is temporary,’ Centre for Policy Dialogue executive director Mustafizur Rahman told New Age.
He said that it would not be justified to measure the export trend based on data of only one month.
RMG export to the US market in July of FY17 fell by 14.42 per cent to $386.26 million while the earnings from Germany declined by 1.86 per cent to $369.01 million, the EPB data showed.
Earnings from the UK, the third biggest export destination for Bangladesh, in the first month of FY17 fell by 7.12 per cent to $248.43 million from $267.49 million in the same period of the previous financial year.
Readymade garments export to the UK in July of FY17 decreased by 4.94 per cent to $232.40 million from $244.49 million in the same month of FY16.
Export to Italy fell by 17.43 per cent to $102.34 million from $123.96 million, while RMG export to the destination fell by 17.72 per cent to $94.41 million.
Export earnings from Canada decreased by 12.12 per cent to $88.01 million while export to Japan fell by 2.05 per cent to $76.61 million in July this fiscal year.
Export to Spain grew by 5.18 per cent to $172.60 million in July this year from $164.09 million in the same month of last year, the EPB data showed.
Export earnings from France in the first month of the FY17 grew by 2.69 per cent to $137.90 million from $134.28 million in the same month of FY16.
Mahmud Hassan Khan Babu, vice-president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, said due to the long Eid vacation the export earnings witnessed a negative growth as production at factories remained suspended for more than one week.
Export earnings had posted a record in the month of June of FY16 as exporters had made additional shipments keeping in mind the long Eid vacation in July, he said.
Babu said that the export would increase in the month of August and it might decline in September again due to holidays for Eid-ul Azha.