Accessories industry rebounding slowly

Packaging and accessories industry, affected severely by the Covid-19 pandemic, is trying to turn around.

According to industry insiders, the pandemic halted their business. Most of the companies closed production during the countrywide shutdown.

However, the companies expect a good time if the second wave goes off after vaccination.

Sinobangla Industries, listed on the stock market, posted Tk34.1 crore revenue from April to June 2020 amid the shutdown.

In the first quarter of the current fiscal, its export went up gradually and continued to make way for the second quarter.

The company secretary Md Habibur Rahman said: "Our export increased in the last six months. We are getting orders from our customers."

Khan Brothers' PP Woven Bag Industries Ltd saw a drop in its export by more than 50% for the first time, but the company is trying to recover from the pandemic gloom.

Tapan Kumar Sarker, company secretary, said: "Our sales dropped sharply before the pandemic. Now we are trying to turn around."

Manjure Khuda of KDS Accessories Limited said their company produces different types of textile accessories and was hit hard.

"After the lockdown, the company's business has increased and we made a good profit amid the pandemic," he added.

Md Abdul Kader Khan, president of Bangladesh Garments Accessories and Packaging Manufacturers and Exporters Association, said the sector is bearing the brunt of pandemic and on the other hand it is also facing an unhealthy competition in the global market.

Raw material import cost has increased by more than 30%, which is difficult for the sector to survive, he said, adding that their business will recover when normalcy returns to the world.

Bangladesh exported garments worth $27.95 billion in the last fiscal year. Of the amount, knitwear garments accounted for $13.91 billion and woven garments $14.04 billion.

In Fiscal Year 2018-19, the country's deemed export earnings was $7,500 million.