• Export earnings in first 5 months of 2020 fall by 29% to $ 3.4 b
• May exports of $ 602 m down 37% year-on-year but with PPE exports by apparel sector reflect sharp gain as against April’s $ 277 m
• EDB Chief predicts performance in June and July will be much better

Sri Lanka’s merchandise exports in May have risen to $ 602.44 million from $ 277 million in April, but were down 37% from a year earlier.

As per the latest provisional data from Export Development Board (EDB), merchandise exports have fallen by 37% to $ 602 million in May, compared to $ 957 million from a year earlier.

The downward trend in export earnings as well as in volumes were evident largely caused by the impact of shutting down factories and closed borders due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It was great to see such a strong recovery from April to May. I thank the export businesses for engaging with the EDB to make May exports a phenomenal success and I also believe this positive trend will continue over the next few months,” EDB Chairman Prabhash Subasinghe said.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the EDB set an export target of $ 18.5 billion for 2020, up from $ 16.14 billion achieved in 2019. However, in early April the EDB decided to revise down the export forecast by a hefty 42% to $ 10.75 billion for the year. As per the revised target EDB forecasts $ 7.53 billion in merchandise exports and $ 3.21 billion from service exports in 2020.

“As soon as the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) was announced as a pandemic, we knew the borders would be closed and it would have an adverse impact on our exports. The new target of $ 10.75 billion for the year was arrived at after considering all aspects of supply and demand, as the COVID-19 pandemic affects both sides. We are hopeful that export performance in June and July will be much better. If at all the downward trend continues, we will revise the target after the first half of the year is over,” Subasinghe told the Daily FT.

In May, apparel and textile exports fell sharply by 48.23% to $ 219 million compared to $ 422.73 million from a year earlier. However, the sector show a significant improvement in export earnings in May with compared to April figure of $ 65 million as a result of the exports of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to the US market in particular.

Tea exports fell by 14% to $ 108 million compared to $ 125.56 million. Coconut and coconut-based products fell by 9% to $ 25 million compared to $ 57 million, while rubber products exports fell by 36% to $ 51.19 million compared to $ 80 million from the corresponding period of last year.

Fish and fisheries products fell by 39.29% to $ 12 million compared to $ 20 million from a year earlier. Spices and essential oil exports fell by 16% to $ 19 million compared to $ 23 million recorded in same period in 2019.

A significant decline was also evident in exports including gem and jewellery 78.38% to 6.7 million compared to 31% in 2019, base metal products by 54%, electrical and electronic products by 37.13%, paper and paper products, 38%, non-metallic mineral products by 25%, food, feed and beverages by 22%, chemicals and plastic products by 19.22% and petroleum products by 12%.

The EDB said that almost all the export sectors fared well in May compared to April performance. 

Sri Lanka’s export earnings fell by 29% in the first five months to $ 3,456 million compared to $ 4,845 million recorded in the corresponding period of last year. The EDB said this is a 32% achievement of revised merchandise export target of $ 10,750 million in 2020.

The top export destinations during the period under review were the US ($ 905 million), the United Kingdom ($ 296 million), India ($ 221 million), Germany ($ 196 million) and Italy ($ 136 million).

April hit by severe COVID-19 crunch