Bangladesh’s imports of capital machinery by the primary textile sector increased about 54 percent year-on-year in fiscal 2014-15 on the back of higher demand for raw materials from garment exporters.

According to data from Bangladesh Textile Mills Association, $445.7 million worth of capital machinery was imported by the sector in the last fiscal year. A BTMA certification is required for importing machinery for the textile sector.

Entrepreneurs set up 26 textile mills in spinning, weaving, dyeing and finishing last fiscal year which lead to acceleration of machinery imports, said Monsoor Ahmed, secretary to the BTMA. Also, the demand for yarn and fabrics from garment makers is rising tremendously and therefore many factory owners have expanded their production capacity, he added.

At present, the textile mills meet 90 percent of the requirement for knitwear and 40 percent for woven fabric by garment factories, and in doing so they are helping the country save a substantial amount of foreign currency. And thanks to sourcing raw materials from the local market, the garment makers can now ship the finished goods within 32-45 days.

According to Abdullah Al Mahmud Mahin, managing director of Hamid Fabrics, “If the fabrics are imported from China instead, then another 30-40 days are required. We can supply the fabrics in two weeks due to our faster production capacity.”

Mahin has invested Tk 135 crore to expand his yarn dyeing and weaving operations in Narsingdi. “I have a lot of work orders from buyers -- this is why I have expanded my capacity.”

Many factory owners like him have installed new machineries within their existing power and gas generation capacities to replace their older ones for higher production in a shorter time. The garment manufacturers have a vision to export $50 billion worth of apparel products by the end of 2021.