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Rubber and rubber-based products in May rose by 78% to $ 91.18 million and by 51.43% to $ 424.47 million in the first five months due to the better performance of exports of industrial and surgical gloves of rubber (89.04%) and pneumatic and retreated rubber tyres and tubes (48.77%)
Sri Lanka’s exports sector remains the silver lining amidst the COVID pandemic as it maintained its growth momentum on to May despite internal and external challenges.
Performance in May as per provisional data released by the Export Development Board (EDB) yesterday amounted to $ 884 million, up 51% from a year earlier ($ 586.7 million) when the country was undergoing the first COVID wave lockdown.
The May 2021 performance is also significant in comparison to previous months’ ship- ments worth $ 818 milion, the highest ever value for a month of April as per the Central Bank announcement last week on external trade. A five-month analysis suggests exports have bounced back in May on a month-on-month comparison after dipping in Sinhala Tamil New Year holidays-filled April.
May export performance also boosted the first five months export figure to $ 4.6 billion, up 33% from $ 3.5 billion achieved in the corresponding period of last year. EDB said the first five months saw increased exports of apparel, rubber-based products, electronics and electronic components, spices and concentrates.
“We are happy to see that export levels are reaching fast to the pre-COVID levels despite the continuous multiple challenges faced by our exporters with intermittent travel restrictions and local area isolations,” EDB Chairman Suresh de Mel said.
“Maximum efforts are needed to secure the export orders in hand while attracting new orders to the country. It is the responsibility of all authorities to facilitate exporters in every possible way to keep them operating,” de Mel added.
The Government has set a $ 12 billion target for merchandised exports in 2021 and by May, 40% of it has been achieved. In 2020 exports amounted to $ 10 billion, down by 16% in 2019.
EDB said in May, all the products recorded positive growth except vegetables and other export crops. Strong export growth was recorded for almost all products during the first five months except petroleum products, vegetables and other export crops. Exports of rubber-based products, coconut products and spices and concentrates recorded the highest export value thus far.
Apparel exports in May was valued at $ 370.87 million and constituted 45% of total merchandise exports increased by 69.48% from May 2020.
Tea exports recorded value of $109.23 million which constituted 11.5 % of total merchandise exports remained as the value recorded in May 2020. Rubber based products exports were $ 91.18 Million, 9.3% of total merchandise exports and improved by 78.12%. Coconut products, at $ 66.71 million accounted for 7% of total merchandise exports and rose by 28.78%. Electronics & Electronic Components exports were $ 35.19 million up 62.47% and responsible 3.6% of total merchandise exports.
Spices and Concentrates exports rose by 30.8% to $ 25.24 million accounting to 3.5% of total merchandise exports.
Export earnings from rubber and rubber finished products increased by 51.43% to $ 424.47 million in the first five months due to the better performance of exports of industrial and surgical gloves of rubber (89.04%) and pneumatic and retreated rubber tyres and tubes (48.77%).
Earnings from all the major categories of coconut-based products increased reflecting the improved performance in the export of coconut oil, desiccated coconut, coconut milk powder, liquid coconut milk, cocopeat, mattress fibre and activated carbon.
Electrical and electronic components (EEC) export earnings increased by 45.29% to $ 164.28 million from January to May compared to the corresponding period of 2020. Export of insulated wires increased by 54.10% l during the first five months to $ 27.6 million compared to the corresponding period of the previous year. In addition, exports of other electrical and electronic products increased by 51.82% during the period of January to May to $ 90 million compared to the corresponding period of the previous year.
Export earnings from spices and essential oils increased significantly during the first five months by 96% to $ 162 million compared to last year, reflecting the better performance in all the subcategories; cinnamon, pepper, cloves, nutmeg, etc.
The US remained the single largest export destination with $ 1.1 billion worth of exports during the first five months, recording a significant year-on-year increase of 25.26% in comparison to $ 905.1 million recorded in 2020.
Exports to the United Kingdom as the second-largest trading partner recorded an increase of 23.47% to $ 366.53 million during the first five months compared with the corresponding period of the previous year.
Exports to the Netherlands and China increased y-o-y by 63.71% and 61.34% in May 2021 with cumulative increases of 83.87 % and 64.25%, respectively, during the period of January to May 2021. The growth of the Netherlands is a result of the export of apparel and liquid coconut milk, while bulk tea, mineral sands, activated carbon and cocopeat exports contributed to increasing figures to China.
In addition, exports to all other regions increased except CIS and African countries during the period of the first five months of 2021 compared with the corresponding period of the previous year.
The services exports estimated by EDB which includes ICT/BPM, construction, financial services and transport and logistics were $ 1.2 billion during January-April 2021 up 17% as against $ 1 billion recorded in the corresponding period of 2020.
EDB is forecasting a total performance of $ 15.68 billion in merchandise and service exports in 2021. Apart from the $ 12 billion goal of merchandised shipments, EDB is targeting $ 3.58 billion from services exports.
