Textiles & garments drive Sri Lankan exports in June'14

26 Aug '14

2 min read

Textiles and garments was the main driver of growth in overall Sri Lankan exports in June 2014.

“Textiles and garment exports, which account for 45.3 percent of total exports, grew by 25 percent year-on-year to US$ 446 million in June 2014, contributing more than 50 percent to the overall growth in exports in June 2014,” says a press release on ‘External Sector Performance – June 2014’ issued by the Economics Research Department of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka’s textile and clothing exports to the EU grew by 34.6 percent, while to the US by 12.1 percent. However, a sharper growth of 44.5 percent was witnessed in exports to non-traditional markets.

“The rapid growth in the apparel industry indicates the ability of the industry to achieve the target for exports of $5 billion well before 2016,” says the Central Bank.

Strategies such as backward integration and promotion of new Sri Lankan brands in the international market have helped the industry to grow rapidly, according to the Bank.

The maintenance of safety and other international standards also helped the textile and garment industry in Sri Lanka to face the strong competition in international markets.

In January-June 2014, Sri Lanka’s textiles and garments exports surged 20.6 percent to $2.412 billion, as against exports of $2 billion made during the corresponding period of last year. On the other hand, imports of textiles and textile articles increased by 8.6 percent to $1.048 billion during the first half of this year, compared to imports worth $965.9 million made during the same period last year.

In 2013, Sri Lanka’s earnings from textile and garment exports grew by 13 percent year-on-year to $4.508 billion, while its value of imports declined by 9.7 percent year-on-year to $2.045 billion.

Fibre2fashion News Desk - India