"March quarter weighs heavy on Bangladesh textile firms as they bear brunt of dollar, energy crises", 3 May 2023

Thanks to the energy crisis, a strong dollar, and a slowdown in the global market consequent to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, many textile and apparel makers in Bangladesh saw lower profits even as many even incurred losses in the January-March quarter of the current fiscal.

This is as per media reports, which cited the concerned industry players in this direction even as many listed companies in this sector reportedly witnessed a sharp decline in profit during the first quarter, as per the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) data, which showed 45 out of 58 listed companies that published their January to March quarter financial statements, 17 incurred losses while the profit of 16 companies declined compared to the same period of the previous fiscal.

Only 12 companies reportedly managed to make a profit.

Meanwhile, speaking to media, President of Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA) and Chairman of Maksons Spinning Mills Limited, Mohammad Ali Khokon underlined the textile sector has been facing a hard time after production costs went up owing to gas and electricity price hikes even as imported yarn continued to flood the local market, compounding problems further for the textile makers.