Prospects for Bangladesh to resume cotton imports from Uzbekistan have improved

According to a report from Bangladesh’s “Daily Star” on September 9, after the United States lifted the ban on Uzbekistan’s procurement of key textile raw materials due to the existence of so-called forced labor , Bangladesh’s prospects for resuming its purchase of cotton from Uzbekistan have improved
.
Before the United States and Europe launched a campaign to boycott Uzbek cotton in 2007, Uzbekistan was Bangladesh’s largest single purchase destination for cotton, accounting for about 45% of Bangladesh’s cotton imports
.
However, the U.
S.
and Europe determined that Uzbekistan had child labor and forced labor, and required clothing supplier countries, including Bangladesh, not to use Uzbek cotton
.
The United States lifted its sanctions on Uzbek cotton in March 2019, opening the door for Bangladesh to re-import Uzbekistan cotton
.
African countries are currently Bangladesh’s largest source of cotton, accounting for about 40% of Bangladesh’s imported raw materials, and India’s cotton accounts for 26%
.
But Bangladesh has reduced its dependence on Indian cotton, because India often stops the supply of raw materials without prior notice, which has brought uncertainty to the US$10 billion Mongolian primary textile sector and the US$41 billion clothing industry in Bangladesh.

.
Bangladesh's clothing industry is completely dependent on imports for important raw materials.
According to the Bangladesh Textile Association, in 2020, Bangladesh imported 8.
2 million bales of cotton, valued at 3 billion U.
S.
dollars
.