A group of US-based garment retailers has threatened to shift work orders from Bangladesh to other destinations if political deadlock does not end soon, BGMEA President Atiqul Islam said yesterday.

"The retailers said they are thinking of an alternative to Bangladesh as the ongoing blockade is hampering timely shipment of garments," Islam said, quoting an email he received from some retailers yesterday.

The buyers also said they will not travel to Bangladesh to check samples of goods due to political violence, especially arson attacks on vehicles, according to Islam.

The buyers are now asking the garment makers to send the samples to the US, he said.

The US is the single largest export destination of Bangladesh's garment items. In fiscal 2013-14, Bangladesh exported garments worth $5.14 billion to the US, according to Export Promotion Bureau.

“We have called an emergency meeting with the leaders of all textile and garment related bodies tomorrow (today) at the BGMEA office to seek help from the government,” Islam told The Daily Star by phone.

Meanwhile, eleven garment factories have lost $15.1 million between January 14 and January 24 due to the blockade, according to an assessment by Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association. The losses include order cancellation, discount, air shipment charges, delayed shipment and excess transportation costs, the BGMEA said. The BGMEA had taken a similar initiative during the prolonged political crisis in 2013. The government had also offered incentives to the affected businesses at that time.

In 2013, the BGMEA had collected nine days' data (from Dec 1 to Dec 9) from 21 exporters to assess the overall losses caused by political unrest.

Orders worth $2.40 million were cancelled during the period, while exporters spent $0.9 million on air shipment.

In 2013, the sector had to bear air shipment bills worth Tk 5,000 crore and offer discounts worth Tk 9,000 crore because of political unrest, the BGMEA said in a statement early this month.

In the form of penalty for delayed shipment, the exporters saw a price cut by $4.65 million as orders worth $6.6 million were delayed. Losses caused by vandalism and arson attacks were worth $1.9 million, according to the BGMEA.

Real production in the garment sector is valued at Tk 430 crore a day. So, if half a day of production is hampered, output worth Tk 215 crore is damaged, the BGMEA said.

Garment makers or their representatives are travelling to Hong Kong, China, India, Thailand and European nations, spending thousands of dollars, to attend the meetings that were initially planned to take place in Dhaka.