Garment exporters yesterday demanded a faster and more efficient service from the customs houses of Dhaka, Chattogram and Benapole ports as some of them are facing troubles in their business operations.

The country’s merchandise export earnings grew by 10.55 percent year-on-year to $40.53 billion in the immediate past fiscal year riding on a high volume of garment shipment in a favourable external business environment.

Import-laden containers are piling up at Chattogram port mainly due to slow delivery as operations of factories and vehicular movement are yet to return to normalcy following the Eid vacation.

The government may relax the baggage rules from next fiscal year to facilitate travellers to bring in gold bars and jewellery through the formal channel as it looks to curb smuggling.

The government’s proposal to increase cash incentive by one percentage point for exporters is insufficient to jumpstart shipments from many sectors, said leaders of different trade bodies.

Bangladesh is progressively becoming an important market for the US’s tree nuts, mainly almond, thanks to the country’s rising income and expanding food and beverage industry, said a report by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). “Consumers’ attitude towards nut consumption

The government mulls over increasing the cash incentive for exports by one percentage point as it looks to motivate exporters to leverage the sudden opportunities presented by the US-China trade war. Currently, 26 sectors are provided with cash incentives ranging from 2 percent to 20 percent of their export

Apparel exports to the US, Bangladesh’s single largest export destination, jumped 15.57 percent to $1.63 billion in the first three months of the year, which the exporters and experts attributed to the ongoing trade war between the US and China. Ready made garments was not in the list of the items

Exports grew 2.69 percent year-on-year to $3.03 billion in April riding mainly on the higher shipment of apparel items, official data showed yesterday. Last month’s receipts, however, fell short of the government’s monthly target of $3.08 billion by 1.52 percent.

After 10 years of negotiations, Vietnamese mangoes have been licensed for export to the US.

All the export and import consignments would be scanned before clearance to curb duty evasion, said Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal yesterday.

Banks will have to deduct 0.25 percent source tax on exports of apparel and other items, except for jute goods, with effect from the first day of January, said the National Board of Revenue (NBR) recently.

Bangladesh has been ranked 41st among the largest economies in the world in 2019, up from the 43rd position since last year, according to an analysis by a UK based think tank.

Shrimp processors finished the first half of fiscal 2018-19 amid lower export receipts than a year earlier, with a revival in fortunes progressively looking unlikely in the second half, said exporters yesterday.

The government has come up with a host of incentives including low-interest loans under the new export policy to facilitate receipts

Turnaround time at the Chattogram port has sharply increased because of a recent two-day countrywide transport strike, leading to vessel congestion and cancellation of berthing schedules.

Leading food processor Pran has bagged export orders worth around $5.25 million at Sial Food Fair, one of the largest food exhibitions in the world.

Bangladesh's export of agro-processed foods may cross $1 billion in the next three years and the country has a bright prospect in the sector, a platform of agro-processors said yesterday.

Beef exports of the US accounted for 12.9 per cent of total production in 2017. Although India has banned the slaughtering of cows and consumption of beef in many parts of the country, it is among the top exporters of beef in the world.

Bangladesh's exports to China—one of the most promising Asian markets—fell 26.79 percent year-on-year to $694.97 million in 2017-18.