Lankan crisis may benefit Tirupur companies

TIRUPUR: The economic crisis in Sri Lanka may help the apparel exporters in the district bag more orders from global brands.
The exporters said they were expecting to grab 5% to 10% of the business from the apparel manufacturers in Sri Lanka.

Speaking to TOI, Raja M Shanmugham, president, Tiruppur Exporters’ Association, said the global brands might divert some of their orders to the district from Sri Lanka, because of the ongoing crisis there.
“The crisis is escalating in Sri Lanka. Several industries have come to a grinding halt because of the fuel shortage and frequent power cuts. It is to be noted that the same brands are placing orders with India, Sri Lanka, Vietnam and Bangladesh. Hence, the crisis situation may come as a blessing in disguise for us to bag additional orders,” he said.
Stating that there were no concrete inquiries from the global brands so far, Raja said the chances of them striking more business deals with the exporters in the district were high.
According to srilankabusiness.com, the island nation exported apparel worth 212.45 crore and 69 crore to the US and the UK, respectively, in 2021. In total, Sri Lanka had exported garments worth 541.59 crore in the last fiscal.
C M N Muruganandan, managing director, Gomatha International, said the apparel manufacturers in the district were reeling under the yarn price hike. Compared to Bangladesh and Vietnam, he said, the yarn was costlier in India.
“The economic crisis in Sri Lanka may help the exporters here grab nearly 10% the global business share enjoyed by the island nation. But it’s the high-end yarn that Sri Lanka uses to make inner garments and the same isn’t used here. They use 100% polyester, a lace kind of yarn. Here, we use 20 to 10 count yarn,” he said.
A K Saminathan, executive director, Rhythm Knit India, said Sri Lanka was into bulk manufacturing of innerwear products. “Sri Lanka exports products for the global brands such as Zara and Victoria’s Secret. The units that make innerwear and intimate garments in bulk in the district have a chance to bag orders that were going into the island nation.”
The exporters also reiterated their demand to allow them import cotton duty-free.