YTD US proceeds up by 15.3 % to US$ 1,905.02 mn:
Returns from the Netherlands and Canada increased by over 50%:
Sri Lanka’s merchandise exports in August 2021 recorded an increase of 14.4 % to US$ 1,083.56 million as compared to US$ 947.2 million recorded in August 2020.
Export Development Board (EDB) Chairman, Suresh de Mel, commended the exporters and said it is remarkable to see another month of exports over a billion US$ despite the ongoing pandemic. “Going forward we need to add more value to our exports and explore niche markets, and diversify our product basket and markets.”
Export earnings from the Apparel Sector have increased by 12.13 % y-o-y to $ 491.5 million in August 2021 with a strong performance in exports of Apparel (12.84%) and Woven Fabrics (312.9%). Further, export earnings from the Apparel Sector increased by 8.61 % in August 2021 in comparison to July 2021.
Export earnings from tea in August 2021 which made up 12% of merchandise exports increased by 13.41% y-o-y to $ 116.78 million and export volume also increased by 16.1% in August 2021 compared to August 2020. Export earnings from rubber and rubber finished products have increased by 27.31 % y-o-y to $ 92.34 million in August 2021 with a strong performance in exports of pneumatic and retreated rubber tyres and tubes (33.02%) and industrial & surgical gloves (36.89%). Earnings from all the major categories of coconut-based products increased in August 2021 compared with August 2020. Export earnings from seafood increased by 19.65% to US$ 165.48 million in August 2021 compared to August 2020.
From January to August 2021, merchandise exports increased by 22.36 % to US$ 7,886.1 million. Export earnings from rubber and rubber finished products increased by 39.9 % to US$ 708.92 million from January-August 2021 due to the better performance of exports of Industrial & Surgical Gloves of Rubber (63.68%) and Pneumatic & Retreated Rubber Tyres & Tubes (43.31%). Meanwhile, earnings from the export of Electrical and Electronic Components (EEC) increased by 32.96 % to US$ 278.16 million from January to August 2021 compared to the corresponding period of 2020. Export of Insulated wires increased by 60.53 % from January to August 2021 to US$ 47.18 million compared with the corresponding period of the previous year. Export earnings from Spices and Essential Oils increased significantly. Strong export growth was recorded for the top 10 export markets in the period of January to August 202 and exports to the United States of America, Sri Lanka’s single largest export destination, increased by 15.3 % to US$ 1,905.02 million.
Exports to the United Kingdom as the second-largest trading partner recorded an increase of 9.43% to US$ 604.54 million.
Breakdown of exports to the top five EU markets which accounted for 80% of Sri Lanka’s total exports to the EU was; Germany US$ 481.41 million (up 29.74%), Italy US$ 373.36 million (up 33.1%), Netherlands US$ 270.14 million (up 56.63%), Belgium US$ 214.91 million (up 17.26%) and France US$ 152.73 million (up 28.81%).
Exports to the Netherlands and Canada increased by over 50% during the period.
Increased exports to the Netherlands led by better performance recorded in the apparel sector (79.47%) and liquid coconut milk (57.13%) and increased exports to China led by mineral sands, cocopeat and frozen fish.
The services exports which include ICT/BPM, Construction, financial services and transport and logistics recorded US $ 2,184.5 million from January to August 2021 compared to US$ 1,640.8 million recorded in the corresponding period of 2020.
Estimated service exports increased by 33.13 % during the period.
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