Category: Apparel

June 16, 2009 (LBO) – Brandix, a top Sri Lankan apparel maker, is planning to boost production at a factory built in Batticaloa, a former war-torn area in the east of the island where ex-female Tiger combatants are also working, an official said.“Our current production is 20,000 pieces and we want to push it up […]

May 15, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Hayleys MGT Knitting Mills said net profit slumped 45 percent to 3.2 million US dollars in the 2008-09 financial year from a year ago as orders and profit margins fell. The firm, the cotton and synthetic fabric manufacturing unit of the Hayeys group, said in a statement that […]

May 11, 09 (LBO) – Sri Lankan apparel exports are slowing as demand slumps with recession but a weaker rupee and continuing duty free access to Europe enable exporters to remain competitive, a senior official said.Rohan Masakorala, secretary general of the Joint Apparel Association Forum, an industry body, said the industry would have been in […]

April 03, 2009 (LBO) – Lanka Salusala, a partly operational Sri Lankan state textile firm which is overstaffed and debt ridden, is to be closed down and re-started as a new business entity. Textile development minister Mahinda Rathnathilaka said the firm will be revived as there are many legal issues relating to its liquidation. “We […]

Feb 23, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has unveiled an export incentive program based on maintaining revenues and employment, while emerging data shows contracting nominal values with manufacturers planning to trim workforces. Sri Lanka’s government is giving a 5 percent incentive payment in domestic currency to any exporter who can show 5.0 percent more export […]

Jan 27, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan apparel exporters said they are considering expanding into the former war-zone in the island’s north and east from where Tamil Tigers have been driven out.Ajith Dias, chairman of the Joint Apparel Association Forum, an industry umbrella body, said the government is trying to encourage apparel companies to set […]

Jan 23, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan apparel exporters are looking for new markets like India, China and Japan as demand slows down in established markets where recession has begun to bite, an industry official said. Ajith Dias, chairman, Joint Apparel Association Forum, said they want to market high value garments in India with a […]

Jan 22, 2009 (LBO) – A partially operational state textile firm which is overstaffed and debt ridden would be restructured with about half its workers being laid off, an official said. Sri Lanka’s overstaffed state-run firms eat up billions in tax-payer money. Lanka Salusala Ltd now has 298 workers. The firm’s board of directors was […]

Jan 21, 2009 (LBO) – About 30-40,000 people employed in Sri Lanka’s apparel export industry may lose their jobs this year owing to a slow down in orders because of recession in key markets, a senior official said.Ajith Dias, chairman, Joint Apparel Association Forum, said the industry is also facing a brain drain with the […]

Jan 21, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan apparel exporters say a sharp depreciation of the rupee is needed, as demand falls in major markets and hurdles on a promised state bailout may limit its usefulness. The rupee has fallen to 113-114 against the dollar from around 108 last September. “If the rupee is around 118 […]

Dec 26, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s apparel exporters could win back 15 percent of orders now lost due to an overvalued rupee caused by high domestic inflation, if there was a realistic exchange rate, an industry official said. The Sri Lanka rupee has fallen against the US dollar in December after the Central Bank […]

Dec 17, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lankan apparel exporters say a temporary extension of a scheme giving duty free access to European markets provides time to recover lost orders, cut costs and ensure compliance with its eligibility criteria. To receive instant alerts from LBO on your Dialog mobile type ‘lbo’ and send to 678 Sri […]