RMG exports to the United States experienced year-on-year growth of 50.98% to $7.55 billion in the January-September period of 2022, according to the most recent data from the Commerce Department's Office of Textiles and Apparel (Otexa).
In the same period last year, Bangladesh exported apparel items worth $5 billion to the US, the single largest destination of the country's RMG products, Otexa data said.
Securing the third position, Bangladesh has a 9.52% share in the apparel market of the North American country.
According to the Otexa data, in the same period, the overall US apparel imports reached $78.85 billion, noting a 34.61% y-o-y rise, up from $58.58 billion in the January-September period of 2021.
The data also showed that the single-month apparel export earnings from the US in September grew to $912.91 million from $678.09 million in the same month last year.
According to the Otexa data, Bangladesh earned $755.94 million in January, $688.47 million in February, $1.03 billion in March, $820.52 million in April, $815 million in May, $906 million in June, $693.22 million in July and $928.56 million in August of this year.
However, the manufacturers in the country said that there is a gap of two months in publishing Otexa data.
Moreover, the global situation has changed due to economic turmoil, inflationary pressures and other issues which led to a decline in orders, which caused negative growth since September, a narrower growth in October and comparatively better growth in November.
So, they are now observing the situation in the coming months.
According to the data, China and Vietnam occupied the first and the second highest positions respectively in the US market as of September 2022.
US apparel imports from China in the January-September period of 2022 experienced a growth of 28.94% to $17.72 billion from $13.74 billion in the same period of 2021, proclaiming the first position with a market share of 23.16%.
Vietnam exported apparel items worth $14.59 billion in the January-September period of 2022, fetching a growth of 34.69% from $10.83 billion in the same period of last year, claiming a market share of 17.8%.
India secured the fourth position by exporting apparel items worth $4.63 billion in the January-September period of 2022, registering a growth of 53.39% from $3.02 billion in the mentioned period of 2021, with a market share of 5.7%.
RMG imports of the US from Indonesia in the first nine months of 2022 increased by 53.39% to $4.44 billion while the imports from Cambodia grew by 46.58% to $3.52 billion in the same period, which made them the fifth and sixth with a market share of 5.61% and 4.43% respectively.
Talking to Dhaka Tribune, Mohiuddin Rubel, director of the BGMEA said that as one of the top three competitors, the market share gap with the other two competitors is very high for Bangladesh.
“But our growth rate is higher than theirs, which is a positive aspect,” he added.
He also said that this growth is actually an outcome of the successful response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We have been proactive during the pandemic. We followed strict hygiene rules and were vigilant about compliance. Due to that, we retained the trust of the US buyers,” he added.
Moreover, due to many issues, they are moving back a bit in terms of sourcing from China and Bangladesh is getting those orders. This is also reflected here, he added.
However, manufacturers also said that they should not depend on the European or North American market only. Instead, they need to find new markets in East Asia, the Middle East, India and other regions.
In 2021, Bangladesh exported apparel items worth $7.14 billion to the United States.
