* Sri Lanka’s merchandise export earnings exceeds US$ 1.2 billion in August 2022 Wed, Sep 28, 2022, 11:19 pm SL Time, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.

Sept 28, Colombo: Sri Lanka’s earnings from the merchandise exports exceeded US$ 1 billion for the fourth consecutive month in July 2022 as revenue from exports increased by 10.24 percent Year-on-Year (y-o-y) to US$ 1.214 billion in the month, mainly due to the increase in earnings from export of apparel and textiles.

The EDB Chairman & CE, Suresh D. de Mel, congratulates the exporters for their great effort to increase foreign exchange earnings for Sri Lanka during this critical period. He also wishes to thank the staff of the EDB and other supporting agencies for their untiring support to facilitate exports under highly disruptive circumstances.

Exports of Apparel & Textiles increased by 15.03% y-o-y to US$ 565.37 million in August 2022. The increase was driven by Apparel.

Export earnings from tea in August 2022 which made up 11% of merchandise exports, increased by 6.52% y-o-y to US$ 124.41 million. This was mainly due to the higher Export of tea packets (11.42%).

Export earnings from Rubber and Rubber Finished products have increased by 8.11% y-o-y to $ 99.83 million in August 2022, with better performance in exports of Pneumativ & Retreated Rubber Tyres & Tubes (24.03%).

Export earnings from the Electrical & Electronics Components increased by 14.03 % y-o-y to US$ 41.86 million in August 2022 with strong performance in exports of Insulated Wires & Cables (8.49%) and Other Electrical & Electronic Products (24.41%).

Export earnings from Seafood increased by 37.04% to US$ 25.53 million in August 2022 compared to August 2021. Except Shrimps & lobsters, export earnings from Frozen fish and Fresh fish increased by 69.88% and 56.39% respectively in August 2022.

Further, export earnings from Ornamental fish increased by 140.63% to US$ 2.31 million in August 2022 compared to August 2021.

In addition, export earnings from Spices and Essential Oils increased by 0.8% to US$ 40.11 million in the month of August 2022 compared to month of August 2021 due to the better performance in export of Cinnamon (24.84%) and essential oils (2.31%).

On monthly analysis, except shell products export earnings of kernel products and fiber products categorized under the Coconut based products decreased by 10.79% and 7.55% respectively in August 2022 compared to August 2021.

Major Exports during the period of January – August 2022

For the period of January - August 2022, merchandise exports increased by 12.04% to US$ 8,853. Million compared to the corresponding period of 2021. Major product sectors except Tea, Rubber-based products and Spices & Concentrates; Apparel & Textiles, Coconut based products, Electronics & Electronic Components, Gems & Jewellery, Food & Beverages and Seafood as shown in the table 1 below, recorded increased exports.

Apparel & Textile exports increased by 19.3% to US$ 4,082.81 million during the period of January to August 2022 compared to the same period of 2021. Except Made-up Clothing Accessories (-9.8%), Knitted fabrics (-1.02%), Yarn (-15.61%) and Textile Floor Coverings (-14.35%); exports of other sub categories of Apparel & Textiles sector increased.

Export earnings from Rubber & Rubber finished products slightly decreased by 0.46% to US$ 705.7 million in January – August 2022 compared with the same period of 2021 attributed to lower exports of Industrial & surgical Gloves (-15.79%). However, exports of Pneumatic & Retreated Rubber Tyres & Tubes increased by 9.42% during the period of January to August 2022 compared with the same period of 2021.

Meanwhile earnings from export of Electrical and Electronic Components (EEC) increased by 11.87 % to US$ 311.17 million in the period of January to August 2022 compared to the corresponding period of 2021. Export of Insulated wires increased by 15.83% in during the period of January to August 2022 to US$ 54.65 million compared with the corresponding period of previous year. In addition, export of Printed Circuits, Switches, Boards & Panels, Electrical Transformers and Other Electrical & Electronic Products increased by 40.65%, 3.89%, 10.89% and 11.77 % respectively during the period of January to August 2022 compared with the corresponding period of previous year.

Export earnings from Seafood increased by 13.83% to US$ 188.36 million in the period of January to August 2022 compared to year 2021 due to the better performance in all the sub categories except Lobsters; Frozen Fish (4.37%), Fresh Fish (31.47%) and Prawns (47.75%).

In addition, earnings from export of ornamental fish increased by 9.76% to US$ 13.83 million during the period of January to August 2022 compared to year 2022.

For the period of January to August 2022, export earnings from Coconut & Coconut based products expanded by 6.37% to US$ 572.71 million. Earnings from all the major categories of Coconut based products increased during the period of January – August 2022 compared with the corresponding period of 2021 due to the improved performance in export of Liquid Coconut Milk, Cocopeat, Brooms & Brushes, Mattress Fiber, Activated Carbon, Coconut Oil and Desiccated Coconut.

However, export earnings from Tea decreased by 7.16% to US$ 819.31 million during the period of January to August 2022 compared with the corresponding period of 2021. Exports of all the sub categories of tea sector except Tea Bags; Tea packets (-7.04%), Bulk Tea (-7.16%,), Instant Tea (-24.56%) and Green Tea (-31.15%) decreased during the period of January to August 2022 compared with the same period of 2021.

Export earnings from Spices and Essential Oils decreased by 17.3% to US$ 234.39 million in the period of January to August 2022 compared to year 2021 due to the poor performance in all the sub categories; Cinnamon (-3.88%), pepper (-19.29%), cloves (-58.41%), nutmeg & mace (-17.95%), cardamom (-56.52%) and essential oils (-25.53%).

Sri Lanka’s Export Performance in Major Markets Strong Export Growth recorded for top 10 export markets in the period of January to August 2022. The single largest export destination of United States of America recorded US$ 2,308.75 million worth of exports in the period of January to August 2022 – a significant year on year increase of 21.19 % in comparison to US$ 1,905.02 million recorded in 2021.

Exports to United Kingdom as the second largest trading partner recorded an increase of 12.91 % to US$ 682.56 million during the period of January to August 2022 compared with the corresponding period of previous year.

Exports to FTA Partners During the period of January to August 2022, exports to Free Trade Agreement (FTA) partners accounted for 7.2% of total merchandise exports increased by 10.11 % to US$ 623.17 million.

Although Exports to India increased by 12.77 % y-o-y to US$ 570.46 million, exports to Pakistan decreased by 12.28% to US$ 60.08 million during the period of January to August 2022 compared with the corresponding period of 2021.

Increased Exports to India is mainly supported by increased exports of Animal Feed (16.42%), Arecanuts (67.28%), Woven fabrics(96.17%) and Wood pulp (35.39%) in January - August 2022.

Sri Lanka’s Export Performance in Regions On a region wise comparison exports to all regions except ASEAN and CIS countries increased during the period of January to August 2022 compared with the corresponding period of 2021.