Sri Lanka's merchandise exports in February saw a marginal year-on-year increase of 0.17%, with a month-on-month growth of 1.3%, reaching $983.7 million.

As per this, the cumulative merchandise exports from January to February 2024 amounted to $1.95439 billion, a decrease of 0.30% year-on-year.

Despite some improvement, monthly revenues from merchandise exports have yet to surpass $1 billion for the year. The last time merchandise exports surpassed the $1 billion mark was in December 2023.

Data released by Sri Lanka Customs indicates a significant increase of 11.82% in agricultural product exports compared to February 2023, reaching $255.76 million in February 2024. Meanwhile, industrial exports amounted to $727.94 million, declining by 3.36% during the same period.

Contributing positively to this month's export revenue were products such as tea, rubber, and coconut.

In February 2024, tea exports, accounting for 12% of merchandise exports, increased by 22.16% year-on-year to $127.74 million. This growth was mainly attributed to strong performances in bulk tea and tea bag exports, which increased by 52.31% and 2.56% respectively.

Rubber and rubber product exports in February 2024 increased by 15.87% year-on-year to $88.73 million, with robust performances in the export of pneumatic and reclaimed rubber tires and inner tubes (17.16%).

Coconut product exports showed a year-on-year growth of 25.17% in revenue. Additionally, compared to February 2023, exports of coconut kernel products, coconut fiber products, and coconut shell products increased by 20.27%, 44.28%, and 13.55% respectively.

Seafood exports saw a year-on-year revenue increase of 3.5% to $206.9 million, primarily due to strong performances in the export of fresh fish (3.36%) and shrimp (47.26%), while revenue from food and beverage exports increased by 36.77% to $43 million, with processed food exports performing well (31.88%).

Of note, in February 2024, the total export revenue of diamonds, gemstones, and jewelry saw a year-on-year increase of 66.56%, reaching $37.61 million. Apart from jewelry (-49.14%), there were significant increases in the export revenue of diamonds and gemstones, growing by 110.66% and 40.55% respectively.

However, negative impacts on February's export performance were observed in clothing, spices, ornamental fish, electrical and electronic equipment, and shipbuilding. Clothing and textile exports in February 2024 saw a slight year-on-year decrease of 2.06% to $421.31 million.

Similarly, exports of spices and essential oils decreased by 33.32% to $22.99 million, mainly due to poor performance in clove exports (-85.82%). Compared to February 2023, clove exports to India decreased by nearly 100% in February 2024.

Furthermore, exports of electrical and electronic components decreased by 18.25% year-on-year to $35.16 million, with poor performances in exports of insulated wires and cables (-2.1%), power transformers (-34.47%), and other electrical and electronic products (-31.11%).

In terms of export markets, the United States, the largest single export destination for Sri Lanka, saw an 8.02% increase in exports in February, reaching $249.6 million, accounting for 23% of Sri Lanka's merchandise exports.

Exports to the UK amounted to $82.93 million, up 20.49% year-on-year, while exports to India amounted to $50.71 million, a decrease of 20.56% year-on-year. The poor performance in exports to India was attributed to a decline in animal feed exports (12.92%).

Exports to the European Union (EU), which accounts for 24% of Sri Lanka's exports, grew by 5.64%.

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