Lanka Tiles to commission newly installed mosaic tile plant
Tile manufacturer and exporter Lanka Tiles PLC will commission its newly installed mosaic tile production facility on Tuesday.
A 100 per cent export oriented venture, the production facility was set up as a tri-partite joint venture between Lanka Tiles PLC, Foshan Shiwan Yulong Ceramic Co Ltd ( China) and Benjamin Melloy of the US. It will produce and export 60,000 square metres of mosaic tiles a month.
“This project is unique and very special to Lanka Tiles PLC. After the US imposed anti- dumping duties on over 2,000 Chinese products in August 2019, Lanka Tiles PLC was looking for opportunities to manufacture in Sri Lanka and export to the US products affected by this decision. By December 2019, we had identified the product, found parties to collaborate with, and formed a joint venture. It was a fast decision and we moved very swiftly,” Mahendra Jayasekera, Managi n g Director Lanka Tiles PLC told the Business Times. The company hopes to dispatch the first shipment of containers in July and will employ a workforce of over 150 people predominantly females for this venture.
“This is something Sri Lanka should do as a country. Over 2,000 Chinese products cannot enter the US market of which we should identify the products we can manufacture here in Sri Lanka. Right now Sri Lanka is in an ideal position to embark on this exercise as people are looking for new opportunities due to job loss, companies are looking for secure markets and most importantly,
After the US imposed anti-dumping duties on over 2,000 Chinese products in August 2019, Lanka Tiles PLC was looking for opportunities to manufacture in Sri Lanka and export to the US products affected by this decision.
the government is willing to go the extra mile to promote exports due to the impact of COVID-19.
If we can re- focus on what ails the manufacturing sector and take corrective action, it will be a winning formula,” said Mr. Jayasekera.
“Lanka Tiles PLC is also the only manufacturer in Asia selling tiles in the US on Amazon. Nobody believed that tiles could be sold online. But we have been able to make that breakthrough and find ways to expand our global footprint,” said Mr. Jayasekera.
Lanka Tiles PLC also invested Rs. 2.5 billion last year to expand its local production capacity in order to meet the growing demand both locally and overseas especially for large format tiles and Lanka Tiles is one of the few Sri Lankan brands that carries the country’s name to the world.