Restrict imported ceramic ware to boost local production

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic hit Sri Lanka, the daunting problem faced by the ceramic tiles and sanitary ware industry was that their manufactured goods piled up in large quantities without being sold due to surge of imports of cheap ceramic and sanitary ware to the country.

The lingering unevenness of imports and exports has contributed to this problem, said Mahendra Jayasekera, Past President of the Sri Lanka Ceramic Glass Council addressing a media briefing held at the Jaic Hilton residencies in Colombo recently.

He said as a result large quantities had stockpiled at warehouses for periods of more than 15 months as manufacturers could not sell them at a fair price. However the matter was rectified when the present government banned imports of ceramic products in keeping with the government policy of ‘Vision for Prosperity’ which gave a tremendous boost to the ceramic industry.

He stressed the importance of the government to maintain controlled imports of ceramic products as a top-down solution to prop up the local industry. “We must not allow the county to be used as a dumping ground by exporting countries with cheap products,” he noted.

He said the industry faced with mining activity issues is now engaged with the government to resolve the problem quickly. Referring to mining of lands, he urged the government to empower the corporate sector to dig up land. "On earlier occasions we had to visit 19 institutions to obtain permits for mining purposes. However the informal sector got into the mining business and exacerbated the problem by illegal mining,” he said.

H.P. Karunaratne, a member of the Sri Lanka Ceramic Glass Council, said that due to banning imports of ceramic ware into the country, companies such as Royal Ceramic, Rocell Bathware, Lanka Tiles, OTTO Bathware, Mactiles, etc have in their pipeline to invest almost Rs. 2-3 billion in the future. He stressed however that the local industry could not be resuscitated due to a book value maintained by the Sri Lanka Customs Department that stipulates the price as US$35 for ceramic ware products imported to the country.”

This is an unrealistic amount as a complete set of ceramic sanitary ware cannot be manufactured locally for such a low cost.”

He said to purchase a seat cover and water fittings separately itself will cost Rs.3500.00. The local manufacturers cannot survive until the Custom Book value is amended, he added.

Aravinda Perera, Vice President of Sri Lanka Ceramic Glass Council, said that his company Rocell Bathware exports products to the United Kingdom (UK), India, Mexico, United States, India and China. “We supply products to the largest sanitary ware manufacturer in the world,” he said, declining to name the company due to contractual obligations.