The country’s readymade garments saw 40% decline in orders for the spring-winter season as estimated by an industry leader.
Orders for the fall season dropped substantially because the global buyers are reluctant to place orders as they lost confidence that the suppliers would be able to meet the shipment deadline due to political unrest, Shahidullah Azim told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.
The vice president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) said factory owners are cutting jobs, as a result. The situation also prompted the factories to bag some orders at much lower prices so they could mitigate losses.
To substantiate his estimate of falling orders, he said most of the factories will have only 20% orders for the months of January and February while no order for the March.
“To the best of my knowledge, orders were not sufficient for the next season,” said Md Touhid, director of Akik Apparel Limited.
There might have been available buyers and we could have bargained with them for higher price had there been no unrest in the country, he said. “To some extent, the buyers have stopped ordering after Rana Plaza building collapse while political unrest in recent months contributed to make the situation worst.”
Former BGMEA President Shafiul Islam Mohiuddin said buyers slashed orders in terms of quantity as they want to shift from Bangladesh due to lack of security. “We are also losing competitiveness as the production cost increased by around 43% due to inflation and new wage structure.”
To retain the growth of the sector, he said: “We must have a secured business environment. Otherwise, it would cast shadow in our export earnings.”
Recently, the buyers’ forum sent a message to the BGMEA expressing concern over vandalism and political unrest as they demanded security of their investment.
Following the appeal on December 12, the Labour and Employment Minister Khandker Mosharraf Hossain assured international buyers of readymade garments that the present disruption in supply chain would come to an end soon as the crisis is “temporary.”
