By: Staff Writer
Colombo (LNW): Against the turbulent economic backdrop, the fate of the Sri Lanka apparel industry accounting for over 45% of the country’s export earnings has further plunged down last month.
Apparel exports in September were down sharply by 26% to US $ 332 million whilst performance in the first nine months was down by 20.5% to $ 3.4 billion.
“September was a bad month. The industry was hoping to see some signs of slight recovery but that may now be October at best,” apparel industry sources said.
Apparel stakeholders were concerned that the lack of steady supply of fuel and electricity would affect the smooth operations of the industry.
On the other, it was noted that brands and retailers have started to move sourcing orders from Sri Lanka to neighboring countries to mitigate the risks.
Some of the expected consequences were loss of business and revenue and re-location of production to other countries.
In September exports to the USA decreased by 34.37% year on year to 122, exports to the EU (excluding exports to UK) also decreased by 24.54% to $ 106.79 million.
At the same time exports to the UK and to other countries also decreased by 4.61% to $ 54 million and 25.19% to $ 50 million respectively in September 2023.
In the first nine months overall exports to the USA decreased by 25.19% to $ 1,36 billion, exports to the EU (excluding exports to UK) decreased by 18.15% to $ 1 billion over the same period in the year 2022.
At the same time overall exports to the UK and to other countries also have decreased by 16% to $ 480 million and 15.94% to $ 538 million respectively over the same period in the year 2022.
Industry sources renewed their call for a more favourable environment if exports pick up in the remainder of 2023 whilst external market conditions remain challenging.
For Sri Lanka, economists predict that it will take at least ten years to reverse the effects of the crisis.
The apparel industry is in urgent need of an inclusive, just, and equitable plan that will ensure not just the resilience and the growth of the industry, but also the material and emotional wellbeing of its workers.
The Government prioritises the needs and wants of businesses, with greater concessions granted to business owners to deal with the crisis.
Existing strategies are strengthened, new strategies are drawn, and new plans are made to uplift the apparel industry.
