Export Development Board (EDB) says that earnings from merchandise exports recorded a negative growth of 14.9% in October 2020 to US$ 831.72 million as compared to the value of US$ 977.3 million recorded in October 2019 as per the Customs statistics.
This poor performance is due to the adverse impact of the second wave of Covid 19 pandemic within the country and globally. EDB, Chairman Prabhash Subasinghe said, “It is concerning to see a sharp reduction in exports in October due to the C19 eruption in Sri Lanka which has had a direct impact on our manufacturing and export facilities. The exporter’s order book is full for the rest of the year and the businesses need to be agile to manage through the C19 disruption.”
 Prabhash Subasinghe |
”Increases in exports were recorded only in the Europe Region (6.45 %) in October 2020 compared to October 2019. Moreover, earnings from merchandise exports absorbed by the United Kingdom in October 2020 increased by 38.93 % compared with the value recorded in October 2019.” Export earnings from Apparel and Textiles declined by 18.93 % to US$ 356.52 million during the month of October 2020 compared with US$ 439.79 million recorded in October 2019. Despite the decline in the sector, earnings from exports of other textiles increased by 43.92% in October 2020 in comparison to October 2019.
Export earnings from tea in September 2020 which made up 12% of merchandise exports decreased by 1.38 % y-o-y to US$ 112.22 million and the export volume was also decreased by 10.57 % in October 2020 compared to October 2019. In addition, export earnings from tea recorded 1.55 % increase in 2020 in October 2020 in comparison to September 2020.In addition, Export earnings from Rubber & Rubber finished products have increased by 12.4 % y-o-y to US$ 80.3 million in October 2020 due to the better performance in exports of Pneumatic & Retreated Rubber Tyres & Tubes (8.49%) and Industrial & Surgical Gloves of Rubber (36.27%).
Earnings from all the major categories of Coconut based products increased in October 2020 compared with October 2019. Being the largest contributor to the Coconut based sector, Coco Peat, Fiber Pith and Moulded products which are categorized under the Coconut fibre products increased by 30.64 % to US$ 13.09 million in October 2020 in comparison to October 2019.
Total merchandise export earnings for January to October 2020 was US$ 8,233.21 million compared to US $ 9,849.17 million recorded in a similar period of the previous year – a decline of 16.41 %.
Major exports such as Apparel & Textiles (US$ 3,630.41 million), Tea (US$ 1,031.78 million), Rubber and Rubber based products (US$ 667.14 million) and Electrical & Electronic Components (US$ 266.71 million) recorded decrease of 21.29%, 9.42%, 11.49% and 17.64% respectively during January - October 2020 compared to the similar period of previous year.
However, export of Coconut & Coconut Based Products (US$ 552.74 million), Spices and Concentrates (US$ 268.33 million) and Other Export crops (US$ 63.77 million) recorded positive growth rates during the period. Earnings from export of PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) related products increased by 46 % to US$ 731.63 million in January to October 2020 compared with the value of US$ 501.13 million recorded in the corresponding period of previous year. The top five export destinations during the period Jan-October 2020 were United States of America (US$ 2,089.2 million), United Kingdom (US$ 766.72 million) India (US$ 498.79 million), Germany (US$ 478.96 million) and Italy (US$ 371.58 million) absorbed over 50% of exports recorded in the period. Being the largest single export destination, the United States of America has absorbed US$ 197.06 million worth of exports in October 2020 recording a decline of 17.88 % in comparison to US$ 252.16 million absorbed in October 2019. Also, exports to the United States of America decreased by 19.32 % in January-October 2020 in comparison to October 2019.Exports to the United Kingdom as the largest trading partner in the EU Region recorded an increase of 38.93% to US$ 102.52 million in October 2020 compared with October 2019.
The services exports estimated by EDB which includes ICT/BPM, Construction, Financial services and Transport and Logistics show exports of US $ 2,577 million for the period of January to October 2020 compared to US$ 3,208 million recorded in the corresponding period of the previous year. The revised export target of the Export Development Board for 2020 is US$ 13.39 billion and of that we expect US$ 9.57 billion from merchandise exports and US$ 3.82 billion from services exports. Further, earnings from Merchandise exports and services exports achieved 86.02 % and 67.53% respectively during the period of January to October 2020.
