Export of plastic products has risen in month (July-October) of FY 2019–20 compared to same period of 2018–19 FY, thanks to availability of raw materials at a cheaper rate, producing quality products, new buyers from Europe, a robust government policy framework, enhanced manufacturing efficiency and export of products to new countries are helping Bangladesh to thrive in the market fast, say industry insiders. The export volume would increase even further if the government provides policy support along with cash incentives, industry insiders added. According to the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), a growth rate of 3.56 per cent, with net export earnings of USD 41.02 million, was achieved in month (July-October) of FY2019–20 compared to USD 39.61 million in FY 2018–19 (July-October). Shamim Ahmed, former president of the Bangladesh Plastic Goods Manufacturers’ and Exporters’ Association (BPGMEA) explained the reason behind the constant growth and said due to ongoing US and China trade war, our export has increased. US used to import plastic from China which they have barred at this moment. “So, this has opened up an opportunity for us, which has been reflecting to our export growth,” elaborated Ahmed. Besides, he said that the price of plastic raw materials is stable and that’s another reason behind the export growth. Secondly, India started taking recycled Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) Flakes which earlier China used to take from us. PET is used as a raw material for making packaging materials such as bottles and containers for packaging a wide range of food products and other consumer goods, Ahmed added. Eventually, four types of products such as—plastic hanger, plastic toys, PP woven polypropylene bag, and fax fibc bags, exports of these types of products are increasing each year, he said. Shamim Ahmed also said that China is the prime plastic manufacturing country in the world. As it has started moving towards high-tech industries, there’s massive opportunity for Bangladeshi exporters to increase the global market share. At present, Bangladesh mostly exports plastic products to the US, Canada and European countries, said Ahmed. Shamim Ahmed, who is also managing director of Sun flower melamine industries, said, “Our industry is serving plastic to the domestic market and the growth has been 20 per cent per year,” The local plastic market is growing as well, worth an approximate Tk 25,000 crore, he said. Shamim Ahmed suggested that proper policy support and further financial incentives could lead to a three-fold increase in this sector’s export earnings in the next couple of years. Jashim Uddin, Bangladesh Plastic Goods Manufacturers’ and Exporters’ Association (BPGMEA) president told The Independent that Countries such as USA and Europe have increased their portion of importing plastics from Bangladesh than a couple of years back. Moreover, as a new market, Bangladesh has started exporting plastic products to Germany, said Jashim Uddin. When asked about the export factories, he said, export-oriented factories are increasing their capacity to address the overseas demand. “We have been exporting reasonable quantities of film plastic, garment accessories made of plastic and household plastic items to many countries around the world,” he added. “This sector will grow up more, if we get a special industrial zone and we also will be able to achieve approximately 3 per cent global market share in future,” he added. The global market size of plastic goods is about $570 billion and Bangladesh has only 0.06 per cent market share of it.
Source – The Independent.
