Orders surge at Sri Lankan apparel factories
Sri Lanka’s apparel industry is facing new challenges as orders keep increasing and factories both large and small are finding it hard to increase capacity as most workers are hard to come by.
As a result it is learnt that with orders increasing and order books full until around April next year there is a need to obtain additional workers but due to the shortage the industry has now re-introduced overtime work.
“Right now there’s a lot of business around so the industry is trying to build back capacity,” Joint Apparel Association Forum (JAAF) Spokesman Yohan Lawrence told The Sunday Times Business.
With August and September posting good results factories have been performing well with a 5-6 per cent increase. The industry is currently working on orders for the spring and summer for next year and Mr. Lawrence said that today Sri Lanka has created an interest in brands to place more business with Colombo.
However, pricing continues to be a challenge for the industry, it was pointed out since the brands have got used to pay a low price. This is mainly due to the fact that the cost of production remains high in Sri Lanka.
Mr. Lawrence also said that they had received Cabinet approval to use Indonesian fabric in applying to the UK for GSP concessions. At present Sri Lanka has been receiving fabrics from within the SAARC countries.
By obtaining this approval Sri Lanka is able to increase the range they can use to qualify for the concession.
Apparel workers trade union leader Anton Marcus said that at present the factories have re-introduced the overtime payment for workers that was scrapped previously when orders were low.
Apparel SME President Bandula Fernando told The Sunday Times Business that they are currently looking for increased workforce since they are full with orders until April next year.
With a large number of people travelling overseas for employment Sri Lanka is fast losing the workforce required for the factories, he said.
Employers have also observed that there is a loss of interest today among workers to join the apparel factories, Mr. Fernando said.
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