The total RMG export earnings in the quarter were 2.52 per cent higher than the quarterly target of $10.02 billion, according to the Bangladesh Bank.

The United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, Spain, France, the Netherlands, Italy, Canada, and Belgium were the top destinations for RMG exports during the quarter. From these nine countries, Bangladesh earned $7.422 billion, accounting for 72.25 per cent of total RMG exports.

The net export of RMG, determined by subtracting RMG raw material import value from RMG export value, was worth $5.29 billion in the quarter, or 51.49 per cent of gross RMG exports. The figure was 12.49 per cent lower than that of the preceding quarter, but 9.31 per cent higher than the same period of the previous fiscal.

In FY22, the RMG sector contributed 9.25 per cent to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP). Bangladesh's overall RMG export earnings in that fiscal stood at $42.613 billion—35.47 per cent higher than that of the previous fiscal.

After experiencing a higher growth in the previous quarter, export earnings from knitwear squeezed in the July-September quarter of FY23 to $5.65 billion, which was 7.30 per cent lower than the previous quarter but 9.40 per cent higher than the same period of the previous fiscal. Furthermore, knitwear exports were 3.06 per cent more than the target for that quarter.

The first quarter of FY23 showed a declining trend of export earnings from woven garments, which stood at $4.62 billion—9.14 per cent down from the previous quarter but 18.73 per cent higher than that of the same quarter of the previous fiscal. Moreover, exports of woven garments were 1.88 per cent higher than the quarterly export target, the Bangladesh Bank said.

The import value of raw materials (raw cotton, synthetic/viscose fibre, synthetic/mixed yarn, cotton yarn and textile fabrics and accessories for garments) was $4.98 billion in the July-September quarter of FY23, accounting for 48.51 per cent of total RMG export earnings.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)