Bangladesh’s footwear exports to the United States in the January-September period of 2023 fell by 45 per cent mainly due to economic slowdown and high inflation caused by the Russia-Ukraine war.
Exporters said that the impact of Russia-Ukraine war and longer lead time caused less shipments of Bangladesh’s footwear to the US market.
The footwear imports by the US from Bangladesh in the first nine months of 2023 decreased by $153.40 million to $187.58 million compared with that of $340.99 million in the same period of 2022, according to US Department of Commerce data.
The data showed that Bangladesh’s leather footwear exports to the US in January-September of 2023 declined by 43.07 per cent to $174.31 million compared with those of $306.22 million in the same period of 2022.
After the Covid shock, western buyers placed an increased number of orders in the financial year 2021-22, as the sales had started picking up with the financial support from the government, but the Russia-Ukraine war has recently squeezed the buying capacity of consumers and brands are facing high inventory, Leather Goods and Footwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association of Bangladesh senior vice-president Mohammed Nazmul Hassan told New Age on Saturday.
He said that longer lead time and complexities in customs procedures had also decreased Bangladesh’s footwear exports.
According to the data, the overall footwear imports by the US from different countries in the world in the first nine months of 2023 declined by 27.92 per cent to $18.88 billion compared with those of $26.19 billion in the same period of 2022.
The import of footwear by the US from China in January-September of 2023 fell by 32.68 per cent to $6.74 billion compared with that of $10.01 billion in the same period of 2022.
Footwear import by the US from Vietnam in the nine months of 2023 decreased by 28.04 per cent to $5.75 billion compared with that of $7.99 billion in same period of the past year.
Indonesia’s footwear export to the US in the first nine months of 2023 decreased by 28.89 per cent to $1.65 billion compared with that of $2.32 billion in the same period of 2022.
Footwear import from Cambodia by the US fell by 34.18 per cent to $511.76 million in the period.
The US data showed that India’s footwear export to the US market in January-September of 2023 fell by 39.24 per cent to $343.90 million compared with that of $566.04 million in the same period of the previous year.
