Exporters worried over lockdown in Europe to prevent second wave

Many of the European countries have gone into lockdown to prevent the second wave of Covid-19 cases, but it has become a big concern for Bangladesh’s apparel exporters.

Already France, Germany, Belgium, Portugal, the Czech Republic, Italy and Hungary have gone to lockdown partially to stop the resurgent wave of coronavirus infections and deaths.

“We are concerned with the latest development as it may hurt our exports,” said MA Jabbar, managing director of DBL Group, one of the country’s largest apparel exporters.

He said the declining exports are also evident in data.

According to Export Promotion Bureau, Bangladesh’s exports fell by 4 percent year-on-year to $2.95 billion in October 2020, mainly because of a drop in garment export.

“Woven will be affected more than knit as consumers are shifting to knitwear products more than any time before,” Jabbar told the Business Insider.

Of Bangladesh’s total exports, over 55 percent or around $20 billion go to the Europian Union, according to EPB’s data.

Bangladesh gets zero-duty benefit on exports to the European Union under its Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP) since 1971.

Exporters are concerned because they think a prolonged lockdown may force buyers to cancel or hold up shipments of export orders, which may have a negative impact on Bangladesh’s foreign currency earnings, employment and on the banking sector as well.

Amid this grim situation, they also see a silver lining with the widening scope of online sale.

“Our sales through online are rising faster in recent months. We are hopeful that our exports will not drop,” said an exporter.