Quality Inspection Management research states that Bangladesh has not been able to secure a greater portion of the growing global garment market in 2024 as China is surpassing Bangladesh in terms of export orders.
Leading supply chain compliance solutions provider QIMA reported in its second quarter 2024 barometer, Q1 Procurement Uptick: a Beacon of Hope for Western Retail? that following a year of weak demand, the first quarter of 2024 saw an increase in sourcing volumes across the board, including in nearshoring markets and overseas supplier regions.
It showed that global demand for textile and apparel inspections and audits from garment manufacturing countries, including Bangladesh, increased over 20 per cent in the Q1 of 2024 while China was experiencing a resurgence in popularity among apparel brands, its competitors in Asia and beyond were keeping pace.
According to the report, both United States- and European Union-based brands stepped up their procurement in Bangladesh, instilling optimism that the country’s export sector would perform better this year compared with 2023, when a political crisis halted a significant portion of Bangladesh’s manufacturing.
QIMA expressed doubts about the feasibility of the optimism, citing a recent Government effort. The sector is apprehensive about the Bangladeshi Government’s decision to eliminate monetary incentives for garment exports.
According to the most recent data, Bangladesh’s garment exports to the US and EU markets have been declining at the greatest rate compared to those of its rivals, China and Vietnam.
According to QIMA data, demand from emerging nations drove much of China’s growth in 2023; in Q1 of 2024, the West once again exhibited a strong thirst for products created in China.
US-based purchasers’ demand for China inspections and audits increased by 12 per cent annually, with European businesses experiencing an even quicker growth.
Especially from buyers based in Germany, the growth was 35 per cent, France 30 per cent, and the Netherlands 33 per cent, the QIMA data showed.
‘Meanwhile, interest in China’s manufacturing capacities remained robust among buyers in other parts of Asia, as well as in Latin and South America, with double-digit growth in inspection and audit demand across the board,’ the report said.
This barometer study provides an early look at the health of the sourcing landscape in 2024 and expectations for the future months. It is based on data from QIMA’s factory audits and product inspections, as well as a recent survey of over 800 organisations.