July-Sept export earnings witness 11.37 pc growth

Industry Desk:The export of goods during the first quarter (July-September) period of the current fiscal year (FY22) made a strong turnaround witnessing a healthy growth of 11.37 percent thanks to the highest ever single month export earnings of over $4.16 billion last month.
The export of goods during this three-month period fetched $11,021.95 million surpassing the strategic target of $10,433 million having a growth of 5.65 percent over the strategic target.
The export performance of Bangladeshi goods in the first quarter of the last fiscal year (FY21) was $9,896.84 million, according to the latest statistics of the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB).
The EPB figures showed that the single month export earnings in this September witnessed a whopping 37.99 percent growth fetching $4,165.45 million which was $3,018.76 million in September last year.
The single-month export earnings in September also experienced a staggering 39.17 percent growth against the strategic target of $2,993 million.
The export earnings during the July-August period of the current fiscal year, however, witnessed a negative growth of 0.31 percent fetching $6,856.5 million, but within a span of just one month, the export earnings made a strong bounce back to bag over $11 billion.
Shrugging off the impacts of the pandemic, all major exportable items like knitwear, woven garments, home textile, specialized textiles, leather and leather products, plastic products, chemical products, manufactured commodities and primary commodities fared better during this timeframe.
President of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) Md Jashim Uddin yesterday said that it is a positive sign for the exporters and also for the country that the export operations are bouncing back.
He said although the industries and factories across the globe faced a setback due to the pandemic over the last one and a half year, but the mills and factories are gearing up their operations with a fresh zeal following mass vaccination campaign by the developed world.
“The operations of the world-wide mills and factories faced difficulty during the pandemic, but their operations have almost come to a normalcy leading to increased demand among the buyers,” he added.
The chief of the country’s apex trade body opined that the various stimulus packages being provided by the government to the affected industries and businesses have resulted in a turnaround of the export-oriented sector.
Referring to his recent visit to the USA, Jashim said he had witnessed huge demand of goods among the buyers as their stores now lack goods which are being imported from countries like Bangladesh.
He said the export volume could have been much higher had there been no sloth or slow pace in the shipment of goods.
The FBCCI President also noted that if the gas pressure remains stable at the industries side by side if there is no emergence of any new COVID-19 variant in the coming days, the export growth of Bangladesh would increase further in the coming days.
According to the EPB, during this July-September period in FY22, some $9.05 billion came from RMG items, which registered 11.48 percent year-on- year growth.
Out of that, the export of knitwear fetched the highest $5,164.18 million having a growth of 15.69 percent while the other major item woven garments gained $3,895.26 million with a growth of 6.35 percent.
Besides, among major exportable items, primary commodities bagged $497.12 million followed by home textiles $279.23 million, agricultural products $344.52 million, chemical products $90.12 million, plastic products $30.75 million, leather and leather products $271.34 million, engineering products $118.91 million, and other manufactured products $95.52 million.
The export of jute and jute-made goods, however, failed to make a turnaround fetching $212.29 million having a negative growth of 30.97 percent.
The EPB data also showed that the export of fruits witnessed an eye catching 7,666.67 percent growth although the export volume was only $2.33 million. Besides, the export of wigs and human hair brought in $19.16 million having a growth of 106.91 percent followed by the export of glass and glassware posting a 156.39 percent growth bagging $3.41 million.