Dhaka, Friday


29 March 2024


Business Insider Bangladesh

Russia-Ukraine War: Small and medium apparel makers desperately forage for subcontract orders

Jannatul Ferdushy || BusinessInsider

Published: 10:04, 13 August 2022   Update: 10:05, 13 August 2022
Russia-Ukraine War: Small and medium apparel makers desperately forage for subcontract orders

An apparel factory. UNB file photo.

Work order flow that nearly inundated apparel factories of Bangladesh as Covid-induced lock-down waned globally in last August, began to recede as Russia invaded Ukraine early this year.

Some exporters were so busy sewing dresses that they started declining further orders at that time the manufacturers called their “Golden Time”.

A good number of small and medium factories---previously surviving on subcontracts--- have been sitting idle now, exporters said. The situation has made some giant factories worried, too.

Industry insiders think, in the span of two to three months’ small factories will have to layoff, if the situation is prolonged. And, the factories which obtain work orders from the buying houses also may face troubles.

“The garment industry started a hard time after the war broke out. If the war and economic adversaries are prolonged, giant factories will face the same crisis, too,” Fazlee Shamim Ehsan, managing director of Fatullah Apparel Ltd. told the Business Insider Bangladesh on Thursday.

He said 150-line factories are also facing a work crisis. “I understand that my factory will run till mid of September with the current work orders. Still we don’t have orders for November.”

The Managing Director of Torque Fashion, Mohammed Kamal Uddin, said, “I don’t have direct work orders till October. I have to cut 30 percent of my factory capacity. And, still, I don’t know what will happen after October. I am searching for subcontract orders.”

Those who expanded factories are scrubbing their heads.

Managing Director of Knit Syndicate said, “As there were huge orders in the country, I had expanded the dying part of my plant but currently I am toiling to manage the orders for existing factories where 700 workers are working, let alone expansion.”

A merchandiser who has been working for the apparel sector for ten year said in anonymity, “This is a very hard time for the sector. If the situation continues, after three to four months the factories will fail to pay the salaries of the workers and staff.”

Garment is the major export item of the country that fetched $42.61 billion in the last fiscal year from the international market. It constitutes 85 percent of the total export receipts of the country.

Unfortunately, the export data of the new fiscal year shows the lowest monthly shipment during July worth $3.36 billion which was $4.09 billion in June.

Nagad
Monetary Policy Stance
Budget 2020-21
Walton