Earnings from knitwear, jute and jute goods exports maintained a steady growth in February although the overall merchandise exports dropped 3.92 per cent because of slow recovery of products shipment from the pandemic-induced global business slowdown.
Of the earnings from the apparel export, $11, 341.76 million came from the knitwear shipment, which was up 4.06 per cent. Earnings from jute and jute products witnessed a 23.67 percent up to $862.74 million year-on-year in February, according to Export Promotion Bureau (EPB).
The overall export earnings in February were $3192.08 million against the target of $ 3354 million, down by 161.92 million, said EPB data released on Wednesday.
"Export earnings remain almost stable despite slow recovery of garment shipment, which typically contributes more than 80 per cent to the national export. It has happened mainly due to global business slowdown," said an EPB official.
He said the overall exports are bouncing back steadily following the rolling out of Covid-19 vaccine worldwide.
Between July and February, the first eight months of the fiscal year 2020-21 (FY21), the shipment of garment declined 3.73 per cent year-on-year to $21033.01 million.
Of the earnings from the apparel exports, the export of woven items declined 11.49 per cent to $96918.26 million.
The shipment of woven items has been declining since June last year as many people were cooped indoors and many worked from home because of the rogue virus, said the EPB official.
Longer stay at homes has pushed up the demand for knitwear items, he added.
"Overall garment exports witnessed a downward trend as the major markets of our RMG items are struggling due to the pandemic," said BGMEA President Rubana Huq.
But home textile exports witnessed a 38.92 percent growth to $730 million in July-February period.
Shipment of footwear witnessed a 0.20 per cent growth to $377.34 million, engineering products 57.64 percent to $342.44 million and chemical products shipment rose to 21.34 percent to $172.37 million.
But terry towel shipment slipped by 3.14 per cent to $26.20 million, frozen and live fish export fell 10.28 per cent to $338.01 million. Agricultural product shipment went down slightly 0.06 per cent to $664.67.
The overall export receipt between July and February declined 1.45 per cent year-on-year to $25862.32 million, EPB data showed.
