More than 50% of Bangladeshi export-oriented readymade garment (RMG) manufacturers have had to take orders for products at much lower prices than before in case of emergency due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, a study revealed recently.
The RMG sector, which accounts for approximately 80% of Bangladesh’s total exports, has suffered in various ways due to the pandemic, it also said. The study, titled "Weakest Link in Global Supply Chain: How the Pandemic is Effecting Bangladesh Garment Workers", was conducted by the Institute for Human Rights and Business (IHRB) and the Subir and Malini Chowdhury Center for Bangladesh Studies at the University of California Berkeley, with the support of UNDP Bangladesh and the Government of Sweden. In the study, it also said that buyers demanded price cuts on new orders that are bigger than the year-over-year reductions buyers usually ask for, according to several manufacturers. Manufacturers reported that when the pandemic disruptions first hit earlier in March 2020, 77% had at least some of their orders canceled without payment from buyers. Currently, only 27% of these same suppliers say that all or most of their orders have been paid in full.
