Sri Lanka'S Daily Mirror: In The Field Of Clothing And Textiles, Exports Showed Elasticity In September

Sri Lanka's Daily Mirror reported on October 30 that, according to the data released by Sri Lanka's customs, the export volume of Sri Lanka in September 2024 will decline by 3.49% compared with the same period last year to 937.95 million dollars. The demand for tea, rubber products, electronic products and seafood will weaken, which will affect the performance. However, service exports increased by 6.08% year on year, estimated to be 329.89 million US dollars. On the whole, the total export of goods and services in that month reached 1.27 billion US dollars, down 1.17% from September 2023.

In the field of clothing and textiles, exports showed flexibility, with export revenue increasing by 15.71% to 418.68 million US dollars, of which shipments to the United States increased significantly by 36.87%.

Coconut products also performed well, rising 10.36% in the month. In this category, the increase of coconut kernel, coconut fiber and coconut shell products was 9.29%, 9.39% and 814.8% respectively. The strong growth of coconut oil, coconut silk and coconut juice and other sub categories also contributed to it.

The export of spices and concentrates also made a positive contribution, with an increase of 26.39% to US $48.04 million. The main driving factors in this field include pepper and cinnamon, with exports increasing by 43.91% and 16.34% respectively.

The food and beverage industry grew by 8.78%, mainly due to the 69.41% growth in processed food exports.

Another growth area is the information and communication technology (ICT) industry, which is expected to grow by 28.66% to reach 150.28 million US dollars, while the export of logistics and transport services increased by 24.94% to reach 158.4 million US dollars.

Tea exports accounted for 12% of the total merchandise exports. Affected by the 10.26% drop in bulk tea shipments, the export volume declined by 2.44% to 117.03 million US dollars.

The rubber industry is also facing a decline, with the export volume of rubber and rubber products falling by 4.1% to US $79.5 million. This decline was mainly due to the 12.19% decline in the export of pneumatic and retreaded rubber tires and inner tubes.

In the first nine months, Sri Lanka's cumulative merchandise exports increased by 5.07% compared with the same period in 2023, reaching $94371.1 million. Compared with the same period in 2023, the value of service exports in the first nine months of 2024 is expected to increase by 8.03%, reaching $25772.2 billion. The total export of goods and services in the first nine months of 2024 was US $12.01433 billion, an increase of 73.24% over the same period of 2023.

Among the major export markets of Sri Lanka, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, Canada and China achieved positive growth in September and from January to September.

(Source: website of Ministry of Commerce)