Amongst competing countries, Bangladesh registered the largest decline in apparel exports to the United States during the Jan-Aug’24 period, shows data from the Office of Textiles and Apparel under the US Department of Commerce.
Bangladesh’s apparel exports to the US declined by 9.16 per cent in value and 3.86 per cent in volume during these eight months due to ongoing challenges faced by exporters including rising production costs and extended lead times.
In terms of value, Bangladesh’s apparel exports to the US declined to $4.71 billion during Jan-Aug’24period compared to $5.18 billion in the corresponding period of 2023.
By volume, Bangladesh apparel exports declined to 1.52 billion sqm during Jan-Aug’24 from 1.58 billion sq m exported in the same period of the previous year. Vietnam’s apparel exports to the US declined by 1.06 per cent to $9.56 billion during the first eight months of 2024 from $9.66 billion in the same period of 2023.
China continued to be the largest supplier of apparel to the US market, although the country also witnessed a slight decline during the Jan-Aug’24 period.
Overall apparel imports by the US declined by 2.98 per cent to $10.69 billion during the eight-month period spanning Jan-Aug’24 compared to $11.02 billion in the same period of the previous year. In terms of volume, overall apparel imports by the US increased by 1.41 per cent to $16.71 billion sq m from $16.48 billion sq m in the same period of 2023.
Apparel imports from India and Indonesia also declined during the first eight months of 2024. RMG imports from India declined to $3.21 billion compared to $3.26 billion in the same period of the previous year. Meanwhile, imports from Indonesia contracted by 7.16 per cent to $2.68 billion compared with those of $2.89 billion in the same period of 2023.
On the other hand, apparel imports from Cambodia rose to $2.29 billion from $2.21 billion during the first eight months of 2024 while imports from Pakistan increased to $1.39 billion in the Jan-Aug’24 compared to $1.37 billion in the same period of 2023.
