Manufactures gain edge over primary commodities

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Finance

Saturday, 04 February 2012

Author / Source : UNB

Dhaka, Feb 3: Buoyed by good performance of readymade garments (RMG), frozen foods, leather and leather goods, export of manufactured goods gained an edge over primary commodities in the first five months (July-Nov) of the current fiscal year (2011-12). The country’s overall export earnings during the period reached US$ 9709.75 million, an increase of 17.33 percent over the same period last year, but fell 3.55 percent short of the target of US$ 10067.35 million.
Of the July-November earnings, the export of manufactured commodities fetched $ 9224.73 million showing an increase of 17.55 percent over the corresponding period last year, according to the latest statistics released by the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB). 
The export of primary commodities also rose to $ 485.02 million during the July-November period, posting a growth of 13.41 percent and exceeding the target of $ 423.77 million for the five-month period.
According to the EPB statistics, the export of manufactured products, including knitwear, woven garment, leather, other manufactured products, footwear, home textiles, plastic products and cotton fabrics showed good performances.
However, jute and jute-made goods, glassware, specialised textiles and cotton fabrics showed negative export growth during the July-November period compared to the same period last year.
The earnings from major export-oriented knitwear sector totalled $ 3997.30 million during July-November this fiscal showing a 13.14 percent growth over the same period last year, while woven garment fetched $ 3566.17 million having a 23.64 percent growth over the corresponding period last year.
During the period, the export of jute and jute-made goods totalled $ 410.30 million, petroleum by products $ 128.55 million, leather $ 130.70 million, other manufactured products $ 29.65 million and engineering products $ 135.33 million.
The export of home textiles totalled US$ 307.71 million, glassware $ 0.12 million, plastic products $ 37.12 million, handicrafts $ 2.08 million, ceramic
products $ 15.02 million, footwear $ 159.60 million and cotton fabrics $ 43.06 million.
Of the export of primary commodities during the five-month period, frozen shrimp, frozen fish, fruits, vegetables, dry food, flowers and foliage, and betel nut showed healthy performances except rice, molasses and turmeric. Frozen shrimp export during the July-November period of this fiscal totalled $ 240.19 million registering an 11.20 percent growth over the same period last year, while frozen fish fetched $ 59.39 million.
Vegetables export for the July-November period of current fiscal totalled $ 28.83 million, fruits $ 26.25 million, tobacco $ 51.59 million, flowers and foliage $ 20.46 million and dry food $ 11.31 million. The export of tea totalled 1.25 million during the July-November, followed by betel nut $ 22.23 million and fruit juice $ 7.97 million.     UNB