Sweater and Lingerie: Two Growing Subsections of RMG Sector of Bangladesh

Sweater – A growing sub-section of RMG sector in Bangladesh: Sweater production and export is the promising subsection of Bangladesh RMG sector. As per a report from the Dhaka Tribune, With the technological up-gradation of this sector, it contributes to the western business market expanding with fulfilling winter season demand. During an interview with the Dhaka Tribune, Mohammed Nasir, Vice President of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) said that “Sweater manufacturers upgrade their machinaries from manual to automatic, for this reason productivity of workers and overall factory production increases.” Due to global climate change, winter & summer become two major seasons. Winter becomes a season of fashion & styles. In this regard, the sweater becomes trendy with fashionable accessories &fusion design. As per the report of Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), in the fiscal year 2017-2018, Bangladesh earned from sweat export worth $3.67 billion, whereas in the fiscal year 2016-2017 it was $3.37 billion, a rise of 9.22% within a year. This sector has a share of 12% to the total RMG exports of $30.61 billion of the fiscal year 2017-2018. People from this industry hope that by 2021 this sector annual worth will be $8 billion.

Sweater Export Growth of Bangladesh

A significant number of Bangladeshi sweater factories have enhanced their production capacity or set up new manufacturing units to cope with the growing demand for sweaters from global apparel buyers. SQ, Dragon, Tupa, Starlight and Diganta Sweaters are some of the major sweater manufacturing in Bangladesh, expanded their capacity at least once recently. Walmart, Marks, and Spencer (M&S), GAP, Tesco, H&M, JC Penney, Zara etc. are the top foreign buyers of Bangladesh sweater section.

Having a look over the export growth of Bangladesh Sweater section, it has seen that it obtained an improvement steps of stair. Though we have same complicacy of port & logistics system, on contrary we have a goodwill of our quality & trendy sweater products. Meanwhile competition Chinas product diversification is another chance for our sweater section to grab global orders. Saif Ahmed, deputy general manager of Mohammadi Group, which exports nearly three million pieces of sweater in a year, said that work orders shift from China to Bangladesh is another factor for the higher shipment. Hopefully in near future this section will lead as like as knit or woven section.

Lingerie Export of RMG from Bangladesh

Lingerie: Another growing sub-section of RMG sector in Bangladesh: Once upon a time, lingerie was an intangible part of fashion, but with the change of fashion & style it becomes a part of fashion & fashion industry. Bangladesh lingerie industry also developing with times after steeps in global market from 2008. As per International Trade Centre (ITC) report, global lingerie export worth is around $23 billion. China leads the market of lingerie exporting countries with 37%share, while Hong Kong and Sri Lanka leads as second and third with 8.78% and 5.65% of worth respectively. Bangladesh is the 4th largest lingerie exporter with 5.23% share in the global market. Vietnam, India, France, Germany, Cambodia, and the Netherlands are also in the list. Top foreign buyers of Bangladesh lingerie items are H&M, Hunkemöller, Women’secret, Ostin, Ariela-Alpha., M&S, Victoria’s Secret etc. Asif Zahir, director of Ananta Group said that, “Lingerie is an upcoming sector, this is a big market.”

Lingerie Export Growth of Bangladesh

As per the Apparel story, among a wide variety of intimate apparel items, bra dominates global market with more than half of the total share of worthwhile briefs represent around 33% and corsetry 10%. According to Analysts of Technavio, an international research company, within 2021 global lingerie market will grow at a CAGR of 4.30%. After realizing the global market trend, so many apparel icons of Bangladesh expanded their lingerie unit or established new unit. Top lingerie item exported from Bangladesh are: bra, penty, corset, shapewear, girdle, swimsuits and braces. Ms. Sandamali, Head of Marketing of SQ Birichina, said that “Lingerie manufacturing is a critical task, so not all are interested in this business keeping the number of players limited in the market, thus it gives advantages to the manufactures in terms of competition. While buyers generally tend to switch from one supplier to another on price issue in case of basic apparel items, such scene is less likely in undergarment business because factories skilled and equipped to manufacture this complex product are not too many in the market.” In the fiscal year 2017-18, the export worth of lingerie items – women’s innerwear and nightwear reached $1.15 billion, the rise of 7.84%from the previous fiscal year 2016-17 worth $1.07. As per the financial express, Md Syful Alam, manager, merchandising and marketing, Yunusco Bangladesh Ltd said that “Lingerie is a complicated and technical product that needs a sophisticated design with right fabric and tailoring to yield a good and satisfactory fit”. ” This is the reason why we require the items IE-Industrial Engineering in Garments,” he added.

Lingerie Products Exported from Bangladesh

As per, Apparel Resources News-Desk, M Ghulam Faruq, Chairman of SQ Birichina, said that, “To be honest, Bangladesh is still not doing much to produce the premium segment of lingerie items.” He thinks that lingerie is an item that needs continuous changing of fashion with taste change. “You need continuous innovation in fabric design and product design to stay competitive in the lingerie market. It is a difficult business,” he quoted. Manufacturer starts investing on this growing section of RMG sector in Bangladesh. Bangladesh need strong R&D as well as design & innovation team for the development of this sector. In coming future, it will be indeed a great sector of GDP earning as like as knit, woven or denim.

References

1. The Apparel story
2. Textile Today
3. The Financial Express
4. The Dhaka Tribune
5. Export Promotion Bureau