Bangladesh has already conquered the international apparel market and is currently the second-largest exporter of garment items worldwide after China with a 6.8 per cent global market share.
Although Bangladesh depends on imports for cotton, a key raw material for textile, the country is fast becoming a major source for yarn and fabrics for textile and garment producers.
The shipment of the raw materials and intermediate goods is rising fast thanks to a government incentive.
Yarn, fabrics and waste yarn worth $80.48 million were exported from Bangladesh in the July to November period, registering a 38.73 per cent year-on-year growth, according to data from the Export Promotion Bureau.
Bangladesh shipped yarn and fabrics worth $154.29 million in the last financial year of 2020-21, up 15.52 per cent year-on-year.
Well Group, one of the yarn exporters, ships $7 million to $8 million worth of spun polyester yarn, synthetic, sewing thread and embroidery thread mainly to Turkey.
The same yarn that the company exports is also re-exported to some central Asian countries, said Syed Nurul Islam, chairman and chief executive officer of Well Group.
He said the government’s incentive for new markets and products in 2009 inspired him and other local spinners and weavers to begin exporting yarn and fabrics after meeting the demand of local garment factories.
Envoy Group, a major fabrics and garment manufacturer, is another fabrics exporter that sells denim fabrics in Turkey, China, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, and India.
The company exports eight lakh yards of denim fabric per month, according to Kutubuddin Ahmed, chairman of Envoy Group.
“The prospects of denim yarn and fabric are very high as local spinners and weavers are producing a lot of yarn and fabrics and expanding their manufacturing capacity,” he said.
“Exports of denim yarn and fabrics are growing,” he said, adding that local entrepreneurs have installed a lot of denim fabric production capacity.
Well Group produces 1,000 tonnes of yarn a month and is planning to expand its capacity as the demand is rising, both locally and globally.
“The export of yarn and fabrics is not very profitable. The export incentive from the government has made the business viable,” said Mohammad Ali Khokon, president of Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA).
Vietnam has recently agreed to buy yarn from Bangladesh. The garment producing country purchases one lakh tonne of yarn from India every year.
Similarly, textile millers and yarn and fabrics users in Turkey, South Korea, Egypt and Taiwan are lobbying with the BTMA to buy more yarn and fabrics from Bangladesh, Khokon said.
Local spinners and weavers are expanding their capacity to produce man-made fibres because of its growing demand.
In the next two years, Bangladesh’s yarn production capacity will see an addition of 2.5 million spindles. Currently, 13.5 million spindles are used to manufacture textile raw materials, according to Khokon.
Source : The Dailystar
