As some European countries impose new restrictions to curb the spread of the new coronavirus variant Omicron, Bangladeshi garment exporters are worried that export volumes will fall if the situation worsens. However, some hope that international brands will not suspend orders during the holiday shopping season this time, leaving store shelves empty.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the new virus strain a “variant of concern.”
Shahidullah Azim, vice president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), said: Germany is one of the major buying countries and faces 50,000-60,000 infections every day, and the Netherlands A lockdown has been implemented.
“We are mainly worried that buyers may put orders on hold,” domestic media quoted him as saying.
According to BGMEA data, during the first wave of the pandemic, global fashion brands and buyers canceled and suspended clothing orders worth more than US$3.15 billion, affecting 1,136 factories.
“Over the past few months, brands and buyers have been putting pressure on us to ship as quickly as possible, but now they are asking us to slow down production. .” he added.
Mostafiz Uddin, founder and CEO of Bangladesh Clothing Exchange, said: We have to wait until December 15 to see how the market situation changes. If a brand is unable to sell products or impact its business, it would have an impact on our business.
