Bangladeshi manufacturers exported products worth $5.19 billion in February of the current financial year (FY24), fetching a 12.04% year-on-year (YoY) growth, according to data published by the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) on Monday.
During the same period last year, the country earned $4.63 billion from export earnings.
The export sustained its positive trends after a negative trend for several months.
However, the February export figure was 0.98% lower than the month’s target, which was fixed at $5.24 billion.
Bangladesh bagged over $5 billion worth exports earnings for three consecutive months in the ongoing FY24 in December, January, and February.
Earlier, the country reached the similar milestone in November, December, and January months of last FY23.
Industry insiders said that the increase in export earnings will boost the country’s forex reserves and lessen volatility in the dollar market.
Top exporters
In February, the readymade garment (RMG) sector -- the highest export earner -- earned $4.49 billion, fetching a growth of 13.93% from $3.94 billion in the mentioned period of last FY23.
According to the EPB data, the earnings in the first eight months (July-February) of the current FY24 experienced a narrow YoY growth of 3.71% to $38.45 billion, higher than $37.07 billion in the mentioned period of the last FY23.
However, the July-February export figure is 6.48% lower than the target of $41.12 billion, EPB data stated.
During the first eight months of FY24, the RMG sector bagged $32.86 billion, fetching a narrow YoY growth of 4.77% from $31.37 billion in the same period of FY23.
Among apparel products, knitwear export reached $18.59 billion, while export from woven items was $14.26 billion with 9% positive growth and 0.26% negative growth respectively, compared to FY23.
Other sectors
Except for a slim positive growth of the RMG sector, export earnings from all the major sectors witnessed negative growth in the July-February period of FY24.
Among other notable sectors, home textile marked a negative growth of 29.94% to $539.35 million, down from $769.86 million in the mentioned period of last fiscal.
Leather and leather goods also experienced a negative growth of 14.38% to $712.68million, which was $832.28 million in the first eight months of FY24.
In the July-February period of FY24, the export earnings from agricultural products stood at $636.51 million, fetching a positive growth of 3.49% from $615.02 million in the same period of last fiscal.
Export receipts from jute and jute goods again experienced negative growth of 4.68% to $581.55 million, down from $610.08 million in July-February of FY23, EPB data stated.
Another potential export sector, engineering products, again fetched a negative growth of 3.26% to $337.94 million, down from $349.32 million in the same period of last FY.
Faruque Hassan, president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) said that the garment sector saw better than expected increase in apparel shipments in January and February.
They expect the upcoming days would be better because most brands have already cleared their inventory, he went on saying that the business has faced some hurdles over the last year, including hike in fuel and energy prices, wage hikes, and global slowdowns in the market for the apparel items.
He also said that manufacturers are going for high-value and new products with diversified fibre, which is helping achieve such growth.
He did, however, note that apparel manufacturers continue to face difficulties with an uninterrupted supply of gas.
Earlier on Sunday, he said that they wanted to take the global market share of locally made apparel to 12% from the existing 7.87% by fostering diversification and a notable shift towards synthetic, animal, vegetable and regenerated fibres given the changing dynamics of the global fashion landscape.
“While the demand for cotton products is still large, from a diversification perspective, non-cotton fibre products offer an important opportunity,” he added.
Bangladesh can not only meet the changing demands of consumers but also position itself as a key player in the contemporary fashion industry, he added.
According to EPB data, Bangladesh bagged $55.56 billion in export earnings in FY23, posting a narrow 6.67% year-on-year growth.