Bangladesh’s export earnings in January 2024 fetched $5.72 billion, a record amount of earnings in a single month due to increased shipments of readymade garment products as inflation in the major markets started easing.
Earlier, the monthly-highest export earnings were recorded in December 2022 with the figure of $5.36 billion, according to the Export Promotion Bureau data released on Sunday.
The country’s export earnings in January 2024 grew by 11.45 per cent to $5.72 billion year-on-year compared with those of $5.13 billion in the same month of 2023.
Exporters and experts said that the export earnings in January hit a record high due to increased shipments of readymade garments as the easing of inflation in the western countries raised the demand for non-food items.
They said that after a slowdown in export earnings in 2023, January, the first month of 2024, brought good news for the country and hopefully the positive trend would continue in the coming days.
The EPB data showed that exports earnings in July-January of the current financial year 3023-24 increased by 2.52 per cent to $33.26 billion compared with that of $32.44 billion in the same period of FY23.
EPB vice-chairman AHM Ahsan on Sunday told New Age that the country’s export earnings struggled in the past few months due to less shipments of RMG, but the earnings rebounded in January as the demand for non-food items went up in the major markets with the easing of inflation.
He said that the shipments of RMG to the United States and the European Union except Germany increased in January 2024.
Ahsan said that earnings from some of the non-RMG products, including plastic goods and chemical products, also increased significantly in the month.
Apparel exports in the July-January of FY24 grew by 3.45 per cent to $28.36 billion compared with $27.42 billion in the same period of the previous financial year.
RMG export earnings in January 2024 increased by 12.45 per cent to $4.97 billion year-on-year compared with $4.42 billion in the same month of 2023.
‘The year 2023 was the crisis period for our RMG sector and we have overcome the situation. January 2024 has brought good news for the sector and the exports will increase more in the coming months, as inflation in the EU and the US is going down,’ Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association president Faruque Hassan said.
He also said that the new markets and development of some of the value-added products also played important roles in bringing the export earnings back on the positive track in January.
The BGMEA president said that to regain the export earnings the government should provide support to the export sector for this year.
But the recent initiatives of the government of lowering the rate of cash incentive would be damaging for the export sector, he said.
Export earnings of woven garments in the first seven months of FY24, however, decreased by 2.20 per cent to $12.18 billion compared with $12.45 billion in the same period of the previous financial year.
Export earnings from knitwear in the seven months of FY24 increased by 8.15 per cent to $16.18 billion compared with those of $14.96 billion in the same period of FY23.
Export earnings from home textiles decreased by 34.37 per cent to $454.74 million in the seven months of FY24 compared with those of $692.86 million in the same period of FY23.
Leather and leather goods exports in July-January of FY24 fell by 14.33 per cent to $628.06 million compared with those of $733.09 million in the same period of the previous financial year.
Earnings from leather-footwear exports in the seven months of FY24 decreased by 26.43 per cent to $317.54 million compared with those of $431.61 million while other leather products fetched $231.77 million with a 3.37-per cent growth in the period.
Export earnings from jute and jute goods in July-January of FY24 fell by 4.45 per cent to $510.54 million compared with those of $548.10 million in the same period of FY23.
Export earnings from agricultural products in July-January of FY24 increased by 4.44 per cent to $572.72 million compared with those of $548.39 million in the same period of the past financial year.
Exports of engineering products in the seven months of FY24 fell by 6.41 per cent to $289.19 million compared with those of $309.01 million in the same period of FY23.
Export earnings from frozen and live fish decreased by 14.90 per cent to $248.19 million compared with those of $291.65 million while the shrimp exports declined by 21.99 per cent to $166.71 million in the seven months of FY24.
Export earnings from plastic goods in July-January of FY24 increased by 15.48 per cent to $141.39 million compared with those of $122.44 million in the same period of FY23.
