The political situation in Bangladesh is unstable. However, clothing manufacturers are not planning any consequences for the time being. This also applies to the textile discounter Kik.
The fashion association GermanFashion does not see any major impact on the industry following the recent unrest in Bangladesh. The association said in response to a query that it could not confirm that orders were being cancelled and relocated to other countries. On the whole, the situation on site has calmed down again. Production is stable and a backlog at the port is the only hurdle.
The textile discounter Kik also has no plans to relocate production. “Bangladesh is and will remain a particularly important production country for us,” said a spokesperson. According to the company, Kik’s supplier network in Bangladesh includes around 100 textile factories.
The Swedish fashion chain Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) told the German Press Agency that all of its suppliers’ factories in Bangladesh are currently open. The company has not changed its long-term strategy in the country and continues to assess the situation on a daily basis, a spokesman said. The fashion retailers Zara and Hugo Boss, which also produce clothing in Bangladesh, did not initially respond to a dpa inquiry.
The vice president of GermanFashion, Justus Lebek, said: They are monitoring the situation closely and expect slight delays, “but the end consumer will not notice any of them.” During the Corona pandemic, production in China was at a standstill for months, but there were no bottlenecks, they said. Many companies have therefore recently expanded their operations. Closer production sites in North Africa, for example, have become more important.
Bangladesh army wants to protect textile factories
According to the fashion association, the manufacturers in question have maintained close relationships with their production facilities in Bangladesh that have developed over the years. For medium-sized fashion companies, August is therefore not a strong production month. The autumn and winter goods are being delivered and the next production cycle is only just starting. GermanFashion represents 350 companies in the industry.
After China, Bangladesh is the most important import country for clothing for the fashion industry in Europe and Germany. There are almost 4,000 textile factories there that employ more than four million people, mainly women. According to the Federal Statistical Office, goods worth a total of 7.1 billion euros were imported from Bangladesh to Germany in 2023.
After the unrest in Bangladesh, which left hundreds dead, representatives of the army and industry announced that they would protect the operation of the textile factories that are important for the country. The Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce had previously said that there had been looting, destruction and arson attacks on several textile factories. Many factories had therefore been temporarily closed.
Source: Stern
