In BANGLADESH july'09 export mark 7% fall

Country's exports front has started hearing alarm bell as exports
shipments in terms of value declined by nearly seven per cent in the
first month of current fiscal against the same month last year.
The data released by the Export Promotion Bureau on Sunday showed
July Exports earning stood at $1.44 billion. As a whole garment
export shipments declined by around three per cent with woven or cut
and sew garment growth at minus 4.66 per cent and knitted garment
saw only 1.77 per cent growth. Home textile saw minus 11 per cent
growth in this July against the same month in the previous year.
'It is definitely alarming for export industry less than 2 per cent
growth no way matches with Bangladesh knitwear industry,' said
Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association president
Fazlul Hoque. Ready made garments alone shared 82 per cent of the
entire export earnings in the reported month. In July 2008
readymade garment exports saw more than 70 per cent growth year on
year as many buyers at that period diverted orders from China to
Bangladesh. Exporters now say the counterparts in China, Vietnam
and India offering low prices. Describing that current negotiations
on orders were not good, Haque said industry might suffer for the
next few months or more. Anwar Ul Alam Chowdhury Parvez former
president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters
Association said, ' such decline was anticipated as low rush of
orders forced many factories to downsize production.' 'The
government indecision has greatly contributed to the decline in
garment business,' said Parvez. He points out that the unlike
their competitors in other countries the local exporters were not
getting supports to prevent their eroding competitiveness. He said
government needs to provide certain incentive of the foreign
currencies that exporters earned on the local value addition in
their shipments. 'A single digit bank interest rate has also
become inevitable if Bangladeshi exporters reduce their cost of
productions,' he added. Among the high turnover exports, according
to EPB report, only footwear and tarry towel remained able to
maintain significant growths. Footwear exports turnover amounted at
$21 million, up 13 per cent over previous July while tarry towel $13
million, up 17 per cent. In July, frozen foods turnover has
declined by 50 per cent to $33 million, leather 30 per cent to $15
million, jute goods, 13 per cent to $26 million and raw-jute 44 per
cent to $6 million. Export price index declined by 1.3 per cent in
July and volume index 5.5 per cent.