The Coronavirus outbreak has halted garment exports in Coimbatore, leading to a space crunch for exporters to store their goods. Almost all main vessels coming to Colombo or Kochi and proceeding to the US or EU originate in China. With shutdown in China for almost two months, the number of vessels starting from that country has reduced and the space available for cargo to be taken from other countries is also not much.

The government has issued orders that ports and Inland Container Depots clear imported goods immediately so that manufacturing industries that buy goods from other countries for production are not affected. Nearly 95 per cent of coir fibers from Pollachi in Coimbatore are exported to China. The Chinese who used to reside in Pollachi and inspect the goods before shipment went home for Chinese New Year and have not returned. Therefore exports to China have stagnated for the last two months.