Bangladeshi exporters shipped apparel items worth $5.01 billion to the US, fetching a growth of 60.3%, in the first six months (January-June) of 2022, said data from the Commerce Department’s Office of Textiles and Apparel (Otexa).
Bangladesh exported apparel items worth $3.13 billion to its biggest export destination in the same period of 2021.
In the same period, the overall US apparel imports reached $49.58 billion, noting a 40.14% year-on-year surge, said the Otexa data.
Securing the third position, the market share of Bangladesh in the US stood at 9.43% while China and Vietnam claimed first and second with market shares of 23.54% and 17.49%, respectively.
The single-month apparel export earnings from the US in June grew to $906.06 million, fetching a growth of 66.20% from $545.21 million, data showed.
Moreover, the apparel exports also experienced a growth in terms of volume by 44.17% to 1,760 million square meters in the first six months of 2022 from 1,221 million square meters in the same months of 2021.
The US apparel imports from China in the first half of 2022 experienced a growth of 40.15% to $10.25 billion where Vietnam exported apparel items worth of $9.19 in January-June of 2022, fetching a growth of 35.03%.
India secured the fourth position by exporting apparel items worth $3.2 billion, registering a growth of 57.27%, and RMG imports by the US from Indonesia in the first half of 2022 increased by 60.27% to $3 billion.
Despite this growth, the manufacturers of the country are still in fear due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, record-high inflation in the US (9.1% in June), and abnormal hikes in raw materials, transportation, and freight costs.
The recent hike in fuel costs in the country (more than 51%) ushered them in new worries as this hike may bring a harsh blow for them by increasing production costs and likely narrow the profit margin.
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