The country’s apparel makers fear a plunge in export due to the fresh round of political turbulence which has already been taken place centring the announcement of polls schedule.
The exporters say if the situation prolongs for two or three months the existence of many factories will be jeopardised as buyers have already started to cut their volume of orders under the uncertain circumstances.
A number of garment owners have expressed their disappointment over the political situation and say that the two major political parties are not considering the much-needed interest of the country.
‘It will be very tough for the industry to sustain amid frequent political violence as now the stand of buyers is very strict over the lead-time,’ Faruque Hassan, managing director of Giant Group, told New Age on Tuesday.
Mentioning the political situation in 2006, he said that the sector players had been able to maintain their business amid political violence in the earlier election period. ‘But this time the situation is different as the volume of export has almost doubled.’
To maintain the huge quantity of export a smooth transportation is mandatory, Faruque said. ‘But in last couple of months, the road communications between the capital Dhaka and the port city Chittagong have remained almost collapsed.’
Most of the garment exporters have incurred huge loss as they have failed to maintain lead-time and have forced to make air shipment, he added.
‘I have already paid $1,10,000 in air shipment charge and incurred loss of $55,000 through discount in last one month as I have failed to maintain lead-time due to the political unrest,’ said Faruque, also a former vice-president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association.
He also said that in the face of political turmoil, buyers were cancelling their tours in Bangladesh and placing decreased number of orders.
‘A Spanish buyer who was supposed to come in Dhaka on next Thursday (tomorrow) to place order in my factory has cancelled his tour as the officials of Spanish retailing company JHK Trader SRL came under attack in Dhaka recently,’ Faruque said.
Sayed Sadek Ahmed, managing director of Britex Sportswear Ltd, said exporters were now failing to fulfil their commitments to the buyers due to the frequent political unrest and the buyers were also feeling uncomfortable in placing orders amid political uncertainty.
‘If the political confrontation over polls-time government prolongs, most of the garment makers will not able to bear the cost of the situation,’ he said.
Sadek said a disruption had already taken place in production and supply as a stalemate on the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway was being disrupted supply chain.
‘A good number of buyers are shifting their orders to neighbouring India even after availability of low prices in Bangladesh as they think might not be able to supply their products on due time,’ he said.
‘A buyer, who had placed an order for 25 lakh pieces of sweaters last year in my factory, has placed order for 3 lakh pieces only this year. The buyer has shifted order for rest of the quantity to the neighbouring countries,’ Sadek said.
He said that in the view of uncertain political situation buyers could not put confidence on Bangladeshi suppliers as retailers would not remain their stores vacant.
Amzad Hossain, managing director of Update Fashion House, said that both the production and shipment would not be possible amid suspension of transportation and many small and mid-level factories would collapse if the situation continued.
Many small businesses would not able to bear the cost of air shipment and this process would ultimately reduce the competitiveness of the sector, he said.
Md Siddiqur Rahman, chairman of Sterling Group, said many exporters would lose their business in near future as they were missing lead-time repeatedly and losing buyers’ confidence.
‘All of the foreign embassies have directed their citizens not to visit Bangladesh as international buyers might come under attack by political activists. Such kind of message will not lead anything positive,’ Siddiqur said.
-With New Age input
