Bangladesh has failed to capture a larger share of increased global demand for apparel in 2024 as China is outpacing Bangladesh in terms of receiving export orders, according to a Quality Inspection Management report.
QIMA, a leading provider of supply chain compliance solutions, in its second quarter, 2024 barometer titled "Q1 Procurement Uptick: a Beacon of Hope for Western Retail?" said that after a year of sluggish demand, the first quarter of 2024 witnessed a rise in sourcing volumes across the board, both in overseas supplier regions and near-shoring markets.
It showed that global demand for textile and apparel inspections and audits from garment manufacturing countries, including Bangladesh, increased over 20% in the Q1 of 2024 while China was experiencing resurgence in popularity among apparel brands, its competitors in Asia and beyond were keeping pace.
According to the report, both US and European Union-based brands stepped up their procurement in Bangladesh, instilling optimism that the country’s export sector would perform better this year compared with 2023, when a political crisis halted a significant portion of Bangladesh’s manufacturing.
Citing a recent initiative of the government, QIMA expressed its doubt whether the optimism would pan out remains to be seen, as the industry has some concerns about the Bangladeshi government’s policy move to reduce cash incentives for garment exports.
The recent data also reflected that Bangladesh’s apparel exports have been witnessing deepest drop among its competitors, including China and Vietnam, in the US and the EU markets.
Demand for China inspections and audits among US-based buyers grew by 12% cent year on year, while among European brands, the growth was even faster.
Especially from buyers based in Germany the growth was 35%, France 30%, and the Netherlands 33%, the QIMA data showed.
According to the survey, two-thirds of respondents globally reported plans to maintain or increase business volumes with Chinese suppliers in 2024.
It showed that 59% of buyers in the US and 68% of those based in the EU expressed similar intentions.
Recent data from the US Department of Commerce’s Office of Textiles and Apparel reveals that Bangladesh significantly lagged behind its competitors in apparel exports to the US market during the January-February period of 2024.
According to OTEXA data, Bangladesh’s apparel exports to the US in January-February 2024 declined by 19.24%, contrasting with China’s export growth of 0.48% and Vietnam’s increase of 0.14% in the same period.
Similarly, Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, showed that Bangladesh’s apparel exports in January-February 2024 saw a decline of 26.74%, in the 27-nation economic bloc, while the exports of China decreased by 13.12% and Vietnam declined by 10.77% in the period.
