Recent Development In Sweater

Industry Of Bangladesh
Garments industry In Bangladesh:
Agriculture, as the case in India, has been the backbone of economy and chief
source of income for the people of Bangladesh, the country made of villages.
Government wants to decrease poverty by getting highest productivity from
agriculture and achieve self-reliance in food production. Apart from agriculture,
the country is much concerned about the growth of export division. Bangladesh
have accelerated and changed her exports substantially from time to time. After
Bangladesh came into being, jute and tea were the most export-oriented industries.
But with the continual perils of flood, failing jute fibre prices and a considerable
decline in world demand, the role of the jute sector to the country's economy has
deteriorated (Spinanger, 1986). After that, focus has been shifted to the function of
production sector, especially in garment industry.

The garment industry of Bangladesh has been the key export division and a main
source of foreign exchange for the last 25 years. At present, the country generates
about $5 billion worth of products each year by exporting garment. The industry
provides employment to about 3 million workers of whom 90% are women. Two
non-market elements have performed a vital function in confirming the garment
industry's continual success; these elements are (a) quotas under Multi-Fabre
Arrangement1 (MFA) in the North American market and (b) special market entry
to European markets. The whole procedure is strongly related with the trend of
relocation of production. There is no doubt that Bangladesh has emerged as a
powerful garment manufacturing country in the past decade. Bangladesh is the
world’s second largest Readymade Garment (RMG) exporter, just behind China.
Country’s 81% of exports come from the RMG sector, and the textile and Apparel
sector contributes around 20% to Bangladesh’s GDP. It employs around 20 million
people in the country and is the major driving force of the country’s economy.
Bangladesh plans to get the middle-income country status by 2021, and RMG
sector is going to play a major role in it. Bangladesh has set itself a target of
achieving apparel exports worth $50 billion by 2021, and it seems to be on the
right track. In the last financial year, FY18, the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB)
states that Bangladesh’s overall exports grew by 5.81%, reaching $36.67 billion,
owing to the growth in apparel exports. The garment exports as per EPB registered
an 8.76% growth in this fiscal year, which was 1.51% higher than the set target.
Sweater Industry in Bangladesh:
Exportations of Bangladesh sweater are expanding quickly as Bangladeshi RMG
has caused the nation to become a moneymaking target. This is with regards to
outsourcing on the energy concerning Chinese money and the increment within the
laborers’ wages inside the competing nations, as indicated by the business insiders.
The Garments business represents as the mainstay of the financial framework and
as an impetus with regards to the advancement of the country. The business has
pulled in the dignity with regards to bringing enormous exportation benefits. The
Bangladesh sweater manufacturers had aforementioned earlier that the orders from
purchasers are immense. Since majority of the RMG manufacturing nations at the
moment are hesitant to prepare sweaters. Moreover, the creation of the
Bangladeshi products is toilsome to a greater extent compared to different
Bangladeshi garments. In the recent past, majority of the Chinese clothing creators
have either changed over to different business or stopped the generation upon a
decrease within the purchasing orders and a greater than normal amount of expense
of carrying out business because of a rise within the workers’ earnings.

According to BGMEA, presently has around 4500 member factories. Around 40%
of BGMEA member factories are knitwear and sweater manufactures, and the rest
60% are woven garment manufactures. BGMEA member factories account for
100% woven garment exports of the country and more than 95% of sweater
exports, while around half of the light knitwear exports are made by them.

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
machineries 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:

Sweater, a sub-sector of the apparel sector, has seen a sharp growth in the last
fiscal year, thanks to prolonged winter in the western world. According to latest
data of the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), in the fiscal year 2017-18,
Bangladesh earned $3.67 billion, which is 9.32% higher compared to the $3.36
billion it earned in FY16-17 in sweater export. Sweater has contributed 11.98% to
overall readymade garment exports of $30.62 billion. In the Fiscal Year 2017-18,
Bangladesh’s export earnings from the apparel sector have seen an 8.76% growth
to 30.61 billion. While, the country’s total, exports earnings rose to $36.66 billion
in the same period. Bangladesh, the second largest exporter of clothing products,
has a huge opportunity in increasing exports of sweater products, as it is upgrading
technology. While the global demand is increasing due to expanded winter in the
Western world. On top of that, Bangladesh offers quality products at an affordable
price. These have pushed the export earnings from the sector up.
 Sweater Exports Earnings in $ billions
4

3.5

2.5

2
3.67
3.18 3.36
1.5 2.93 2.82
1

0.5

0
2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18

Sweater Exports Earnings in $ billions

Bangladesh’s earnings from exporting sweaters, a sub-product of the apparel

industry, has increased by 18.63 per cent, totaling USD 2.93 billion, in the first
seven months (July-Jan) of FY2018-19. Industry insiders have attributed this
growth to superior production quality and advanced technology. According to the
Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), Bangladesh exported sweaters worth USD 2.93
billion, up from USD 2.47 billion in the same period a year ago, in the first seven
months (July-Jan) of FY2018-19.In FY2017-18, Bangladesh fetched USD 3.67
billion from sweater exports, posting a growth of 9.32 per cent. Mohammed Nasir,
vice-president (finance) of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers' and Exporters’
Association (BGMEA), told The Independent that product quality improvement,
technological advancement and ongoing trade war between THE US and China
have resulted in the double-digit growth. From November to January, growth in
apparel exports picked up drastically, he added. Bangladesh has the capacity to
produce huge volume of work orders at affordable rates, which helped to register
growth throughout the year, said Nasir, who is also the managing director of
Evergreen Sweaters Ltd. He also said that China is converting their industries into
high-tech ones and their labor wages have also gone up. So, Bangladesh can play a
major role to grab this opportunity, he added. “There is a high chance that buyers
will be placing more orders in Bangladesh and relocate their business
destinations,” said Nasir. “Business sustainability is very important and that's why
we are exploring new markets along with new products,” he added. Siddiqur
Rahman, president of BGMEA, told The Independent that automation in 90 per
cent of the sweater factories has helped increase productivity and cost reduction.
This has an effect on the double- digit growth, he noted. “Bangladesh offers quality
products at comparatively reasonable prices. Manufacturers have also introduced
advanced technology to improve the quality of goods, so production capacity and
the standard of goods have also increased,” said Siddiqur. Bangladesh exports
sweaters to the US and other countries as well, said Nasir. The inspection of
Accord and Alliance has helped to remediate the factories and prompted factory
owners to emphasize workplace safety, thereby lifting the country’s image in front
of foreign buyers, said Siddiqur. Eighty green garments factories are in operation
which are completely LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environment Design)-
certified and another 300 are in the process of getting the certification. Among the
top 10 green garment factories in the world, the first seven are located in
Bangladesh, said the BGMEA president. “We’ve invested around USD 4 billion
for ensuring workplace safety and occupational health,” he observed. “In order to
retain a competitive edge in the international market, we need to increase
productivity and provide more value to customers,” he added. According to the
EPB, export earnings in readymade garments have maintained a steady growth of
14.51 per cent in the July-January period of FY 2018-19, amounting to USD 20.21
billion compared to the same period of previous year (FY2017-18), which was
USD 17.65 billion.
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.

Lingerie Export of RMG from 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.”

Graphical view of rise of Lingerie export in $ billions

1.4

1.2 1.15
1.07
1 0.92

0.8 0.74

0.6 0.57

0.4

0.2

0
FY 2014 FY 2015 FY 2016 FY 2017 FY 2018

Graphical view of rise of Lingerie export in $ billions

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 Technion, 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, panty, 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. 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.

What the Bangladesh Sweater Factories have done?

One of the biggest Bangladesh sweater manufacturing plants in terms of exports
named, SQ Group, has effectively consented to a joint venture arrangement with
the UK-founded Crystal Martin Group, a sweater manufacturing plant, in order to
create the exportation product within the nation. In a surprisingly short time, the
SQ Group has four Bangladesh sweater factories in effect. Within the near future,
it possesses an arrangement with regards to a development in addition in order to
fulfill the purchasers’ developing demand. Another piece of information that has to
be added here is that foreign purchasers do prefer the products made by
Bangladesh sweater manufacturers on account of effective quality within sewing
and great finishing.

Significant players within the Bangladesh Sweater manufacturing:

A considerable number of the additional significant players within Bangladesh
sweater manufacturing are Dragon, Tupa, Starlight, Diganta Groups and so on.
With regards to the Bangladesh sweater factory, the February-September time
period is the blossoming time of year that is intended towards the sweater
production. On the other hand, Wal-Mart, Marks and Spencer, GAP. Tesco, H&M,
JC Penny and Zara etc. are significant purchasers of the best Bangladesh sweater
products.
Technological upgradation helps to grow:
“In the recent years, Bangladeshi sweater manufacturers made a huge investment
to upgrade machinery to move for automation. As a result, Bangladesh’s sweater
production capacity, as well as workers’ productivity, have increased,” Bangladesh
Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) Vice President
Mohammed Nasir said the Textile Today. On top of that, the winter season in the
western countries has expanded due to global climate change. It has increased
demands of winter clothing products. So, it brings blessing to Bangladeshi sweater
manufacturers, said Nasir. Meanwhile, China’s business relocation and rise in
wages have brought more work orders in Bangladesh. “If you look into the recent
export trend of clothing products of China, it is losing its market share in the global
markets. Since the workers’ wages in China is increasing, manufacturers are
shifting their businesses to include higher-end products, and buyers are searching
for new sourcing destinations,” Exporters Association of Bangladesh (EAB)
President Abdus Salam Murshedy said Textile Today. So, the business shifting
from China has created an enormous opportunity for Bangladesh that has quality
products at a reasonable price, Salam said, also a Former President of BGMEA. In
reaping the benefits of China, AB Mirza Azizul Islam, a trade analyst and
economist, asked the manufacturers to move for diversification of products and
making new investment on product development. He also urged the government to
take measures in exploring new markets. On the other hand, manufacturers have to
identify the new products, which are being left by the Chinese manufacturers.

Barriers to grow:
Despite having a sound growth, there is more room to grow. However, there are
also challenges, which is hindering the prospects of the emerging sub-sector.
Exports earnings from sweater even could be more, if there are no barriers such as
port congestion, delayed delivery and transportation hindrance,” Target Group
Managing Director, Azharul Islam said the Textile Today. Talking to the sector
people opined that as a sub-sector of RMG, sweater industry can contribute over
$8 billion to meet Bangladesh’s export target of $50 billion by 2021, said Islam.
He urged Bangladesh government to increase port capacity to reduce lead-time.
“Bangladesh has good quality product at a reasonable price. But there is a shortage
of raw materials to produce high-end goods, technical expertise,” said Md Moshiul
Azam Shajal, Managing Director of Posmi Sweaters. To remove these barriers, we
need a stable and long-term policy to ensure the business-friendly atmosphere in
the country, he added.

What’s next for the exports of Bangladesh sweater products?

Taking everything into consideration, the exportation of Bangladesh sweater
products are anticipated to exceed the 2 billion USD target within this financial
year. At present, there are around 700 Bangladesh sweater factories throughout the
nation. In majority of the instances, the designs are provided by the purchasers
since eye-catching are yet to be evolved here. Of the aggregate exportation gains,
merely woven and knitted clothing, the two sub-divisions of Bangladesh RMG,
brought in 10.699 billion USD throughout the past financial year.