Fuel shortage increasingly dominate concerns in apparel sector

By Sanath Nanayakkare

Fuel shortage which lingers in the country and its consequent disruptions have greatly overtaken other anxieties in the mind of the apparel manufacturers, a news report by Hiru TV revealed on Saturday.

According to the report, the fuel shortage has created huge stresses in the apparel sector which is no less so in many other sectors of the economy. However, Sri Lankan apparel manufacturers are particularly worried about the ongoing situation as prevailing energy and transportation challenges could put the industry that accounts for 6% of annual GDP and 40% of total annual export earnings of the country in disarray.

Felix A. Fernando, an apparel industry veteran having more than 30 years of experience in the field noted that due to the persistent fuel shortage, the apparel sector is facing an unprecedented, complex situation which has created huge challenges to their operational activities.

“It’s a well-known fact that the largest share of Sri Lanka’s export earnings come from the apparel sector. Today the challenges we face due to diesel shortage are enormous. We have discussed with the government to pay in US dollars and get fuel from CPC and Lanka IOC. Although we have the capacity to get diesel by paying in dollars, the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CEYPETCO) is not giving us priority. Our sector targets export earnings worth USD 6 billion this year. But I think a very challenging environment has been created to reach that target at a time the country is in dire need of foreign exchange,” he said.

Meanwhile, a number of women workers in the sector also voiced their concerns about the ongoing situation.Several women workers of the sector said, “Our sector is the main source of US dollar income which has a greater ability to put the country out of the foreign exchange crisis. As employees, we face many difficulties in travelling to our work places. We have to spend hours waiting for public transport when commuting to work because we don’t have the time to stay in line for days at petrol stations and get petrol. Sometimes we walk to our factories rather than using any form of transport because we can’t rely on it. This issue could hamper the productivity of our workers.”

Not only transportation of employees, the delivery of finished products to the Port of Colombo for export is also facing huge disruptions due to the fuel shortage in the logistics sector,” they said.It was noted that although apparel manufacturers had made a number of efforts to find alternative solutions to these issues, they haven’t borne fruit.

“We urge the authorities to work firmly to resolve this crisis and help facilitate the apparel sector to bring in valuable foreign exchange to the country, and enable the import of essential items to the country and thereby ease the burden placed on everyone” they said.

According to Sri Lanka Export Development Board (EDB), apparel and textile exports increased by 22.93% year on year to US$5.4 billion between January-December 2021.The achievement was a marked increase from previous years’ earnings of apparel exports, EDB said.Sri Lankan apparel sector’s major markets in 2021 were the U.S.A, U.K., Italy, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Canada and India.