According to Felix Fernando of the Joint Apparel Association Forum, the present turmoil in Sri Lanka is causing a loss of 10–20% of orders that are being redirected to India and Bangladesh.
Major firms have had to meet with customers recently to convince them that the ongoing upheaval in the nation won’t affect their orders, according to a Tamil Guardian story.
The Export Development Board said that between January and April 2022, Sri Lanka’s clothing and textile turnover climbed by 13% year over year to $1.9 billion. If the nation can’t win back the trust of the market, it might not be able to maintain this.
Concerns about an impending global recession, which would significantly weaken the purchasing power of consumers of clothes and harm Sri Lanka’s export industry, could make the situation much worse.
Fernando pointed out that apparel companies had trouble getting their staff into the factories because of road restrictions brought on the protesters, which resulted in missed deadlines. He does point out, though, that unions have refrained from going on strike because they understand how serious the problem is.
