Sri Lanka’s apparel exports for the first two months of 2017 slipped 11.48 per cent YoY to US $ 788 million, with exports to the US falling 6.38 per cent YoY to US $ 368 million; exports to the EU dropped 19.14 per cent YoY to US $ 310 million; and exports to other markets tumbled 3.25 per cent YoY to US $ 110 million.
According to Sri Lanka Apparel Exporters’ Association (SLAEA), apparel exports from the country for February fell 14.97 per cent YoY to US $ 377 million, with US $ 170 million or a 8.81 per cent YoY decline in exports to the US, while exports to the European Union (EU) fell 23.57 per cent YoY to US $ 155 million. Exports to other markets fell 3.97 per cent YoY to US $ 52 million.
“It’s a strange situation. We discussed this at the last council meeting and all the large producers said that their order books for January and February had been full, unlike in 2016,” SLAEA Chairman Felix Fernando was quoted as saying.
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The Index of Industrial Production maintained by the Census and Statistics Department has also noted decline in Year-on-year (YoY) growth for apparel manufacturing during January and February.
