January-April exports top US$ 3b

Despite the annual seasonal pull-back, Sri Lanka's January-April exports have successfully sustained its 1Q surge.

“The usual April seasonal export slowdown did not affect our exports. In fact, today we are seeing a rise of 15%,” said Industry and Commerce Minister Rishad Bathiudeen last week.

Accordingly, this year's January-April exports surged to $ 3.518 billion (provisional) while the comparative January-April 2013 exports stood at $3.059 billion, registering a 15.99% growth. This year's January-April provisional export growth was led by fisheries, agricultural and industrial exports, mirroring and sustaining this year's first quarter provisional export surge.

Fisheries exports grew by 20% to $ 95.68 million, agricultural exports by 19% to $ 823.07 million and industrial exports by 13.14% to a $ 2,585.88 million.

Within the industrial exports sector, apparel exports increased by 21% to $ 1,592.8 million.