Bangladesh’s export earnings registered 14.74 percent growth during the first two months (July-August) of the current fiscal year totaling US$ 5,037.73 million compared to $ 4,390.56 million fetched during the same period of the last fiscal (2012-13). The export earnings for the July-August period, however, fell 3.86 percent short of the target of $ 5,239.90 million, according to the latest Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) figures. The single-month export earning also fell 20.85 percent short of the target having 3.18 percent growth with earning of $ 2,013.44 million against the target of $ 2,543.70 million. Bangladesh failed to achieve its export target for the last fiscal year (2012-13) having a shortfall of $ 982 million although the export income witnessed an 11.18 percent growth compared to the previous fiscal (2011-12). According to EPB, Bangladesh fetched $ 27,018.26 million as export earnings in the last fiscal (2012-13) against the strategic target of $ 28,000 million. The figure also represents a 3.51 percent shortfall over the target. The total export earnings during the 2011-12 fiscal stood at $ 24,301.90 million compared to $ 22,924.38 million fetched in the previous fiscal (2010-11). The EPB figures showed that during the July-August period of the current fiscal year, woven garments fetched $ 2,058.43 million that represents a moderate 16.98 percent growth over the same period of 2012-13 fiscal while knitwear accounted for $ 2,101.91 million having a growth of 17.19 percent. During the period, the export of home textiles totaled $ 116.91 million with a fall of 15.56 percent; footwear exports fetched $ 97.22 million; primary commodities $ 208.99 million; frozen foods including frozen fish, shrimps and others $ 117.96 million; and agricultural products $ 91.03 million. Of the other major performing commodities, fruit exports totaled $ 3.01 million with a 74.16 percent fall; cement, salt and stone $ 1 million while tea export accounted for $ 0.05 million with an 85.71 percent fall. The export of leather and leather products, and plastic products maintained their upward trend during the July-August period of the current fiscal year. Leather exports totaled $ 72.22 million, while leather products $ 27.21 million, cotton and cotton products together earned $ 17.57 million, plastic products $ 12.65 million and rubber fetched $ 1.80 million. The export of jute and jute goods during the two-month period totaled $ 130.67 million, registering a 14.72 percent fall. Raw jute exports earned $ 13.90 million with a 47.21 percent decline, jute yarn and twine fetched $ 82.06 million and other items some $ 9.56 million. Jute sacks and bags, however, showed a 24.20 percent fall with exports totaling $ 25.15 million. Engineering products, including iron and steel, bicycle and electronic products fetched $ 59.87 million. Engineering equipments fetched $ 13.10 million with a staggering growth of 146.24 percent. The export of manmade filaments and staple fibres totaled $ 14.01 million, while the export of ships, boats and floating structures fetched $ 0.01 million. The export of handicrafts totaled $ 1.10 million, while paper and paper products $ 6.51 million, furniture $ 4.96 million, chemical products $ 12.72 million (including pharmaceuticals $ 10.22 million), while ores, slag and ash brought $ 2.91 million. Export of specialised textiles including terry towel totaled $ 20.60 million during the two-month period while export of petroleum by-products accounted for $ 34.28 million. Meanwhile, stainless steel ware notched an eye catching 910.71 percent growth fetching $ 2.83 million, followed by wood and wood products earning of $ 0.25 million with 257.14 percent growth. – UNB
