Sri Lanka's textile & garment exports surge 47% in Oct'13

23 Dec '13

2 min read

Sri Lanka’s earnings from textiles and garments exports grew by 46.8 percent year-on-year to US$ 436.4 million in October 2013, which was the highest monthly value of export of garment and textiles ever recorded, according to a Central Bank of Sri Lanka press release.

“Exports of garments to both the EU and USA, which are Sri Lanka’s major export destinations, recorded remarkable growth rates of 53.2 percent and 43.4 percent, respectively in October 2013, reflecting the recovery in those economies as well as seasonal demand,” says the statement.

From January to October 2013, Sri Lanka’s overall textiles and apparel exports stood at US$ 3.563 billion, registering a 9 percent increase over exports worth US$ 3.269 billion made during the corresponding period of last year.

“Despite the strong growth in export of textiles and garments, there has been a steady decline in imports of textile and textile articles, reflecting improved backward linkages and higher value addition in the garment industry,” the release said.

In October 2013, Sri Lanka’s textiles and clothing imports fell by 16.9 percent year-on-year to US$ 186.2 million.

During the year through October 2013, Sri Lanka’s total textiles and apparel imports recorded US$ 1.688 billion, showing a dip of 9.6 percent, as against imports of US$ 1.868 billion made during the same 10-month period in 2012, the Central Bank data showed.

In 2012, Sri Lanka exported textiles and apparels worth US$ 3.8 billion, and the country has set a target of achieving US$ 4.1 billion in textiles and garment exports this year.

Last week, Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena, the country’s new Investment Promotion Minister, told Parliament that there are about 7,000 vacancies in the apparel sector and people with adequate skill sets are yet to be found to fill them.

Fibre2fashion News Desk - India