As the COVID-19 epidemic impacts long-term consumer demand and large fashion brands continue to cancel orders, Bangladeshi garment manufacturers and workers have been severely hit.
During the epidemic, Bangladesh’s textile industry faced severe problems as global demand for ready-made garments plummeted and large fashion brands were unwilling to place large orders.
In 2020, textile exports from the South Asian country fell by nearly 17%, and goods exported to Europe (which accounted for 60% of Bangladesh’s ready-made garment exports) fell by about 19%.
The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) said that so far this year, neither demand nor exports have increased.
RubasdfssdfsnasdfssdfsHuq, chairman of the association, said: Ready-made garment exports in January this year fell by 5.83% compared with the same period last year. Based on the current situation, global trade or economic prospects, retail trends in Europe and the United States, and the slowdown in customer orders, exports may not improve until the third quarter of this year.
Bangladesh’s economy relies heavily on textile exports, which account for more than 80% of the country’s total exports.
There are about 4 million workers in the garment industry, most of whom are female seamstresses. The income they earn must support several family members, so they often live on a paycheck.
Excess inventory of ready-made garments
In the past year, many ready-to-wear retailers have had excess inventory.
McKinsey, a US-based business consulting firm, said that unsold ready-made clothes in stores and warehouses around the world are worth an estimated US$168-192 billion (approximately US$140 billion). -160 billion euros), more than double the pre-pandemic level.
In addition, global fashion brands continue to cancel orders from local suppliers; Britain’s Masdfssdfsrks&asdfssdfsmp;Spencer and Germany’s HugoBoss said that their spring series orders this year are less than before. Sweden’s H&asdfssdfsmp;M also said that the decline in global demand “will definitely” affect its procurement.
H&asdfssdfsmp;M said: Although we plan and implement long-term procurement strategies, considering the uncertainty of the development of the epidemic, we will still closely evaluate the situation. Declining customer demand and the closure of physical stores will certainly affect our purchases.
The retailer also stated that it hopes to work closely with suppliers to find solutions to support garment workers.
The company added: This is also the reason why we joined the ILO global action to establish a social protection mechanism with the ILO and trade unions; this is also an urgent need for countries under the epidemic need.
Slow recovery
ArshasdfssdfsdJasdfssdfsmasdfssdfslDipu, Vice President of BGMEA, said: Until mid-January this year, 24% of our All orders have been deferred; it is estimated that the overall situation will be assessed from April to May, and orders may be lost by 30%.
The European Union is Bangladesh’s largest garment export market, and the United States is its largest single export country. In 2020, Bangladesh’s textile sales to the EU dropped by nearly 19%, textile exports to the United States dropped by 16%, and exports to Canada declined by 25%.
As the infection rate of mutated viruses increases, BGMEA is worried that in order to curb the spread of the epidemic, countries will restrict business and public activities, thereby hindering economic recovery.
RubasdfssdfsnasdfssdfsHuq, President of BGMEA, said: Since the end of last year, we have been observing buyers’ “slowing down” strategy and found that there seems to be another dramatic change. And so far we have not received any good news from the buyer. </p
