ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka’s paint demand is picking up from a Cyclone Ditwah-linked disruption in stages, with some geographical areas recovering faster than others, Nishal Ferdinando, Chief Executive of JAT Holdings said.
Cyclone Ditwah had damaged 4.1 billion US dollars of infrastructure, with 24 percent of the total, or 985 million dollars, made to residential buildings and 562 million dollars, or 14 percent, to non-residential buildings, according to a World Bank-led assessment.
“In the paint industry, the disaster was lesser in Colombo in terms of structures damaged, but in Kandy the total structural disaster is quite high,” Ferdinando told an economic forum organized by First Capital Holdings, a unit of Sri Lanka’s Janashakthi Group.
“Therefore, the demand for paint will spike in Colombo in about two months, but in Kandy, it will take longer, maybe only in about six months.”
The Kandy District suffered most of the damage.
Out of JAT’s 6,000 strong dealer network which sells paints and wood coatings, 300 were hit by the cyclone, Ferdinando told EconomyNext.
Except for three which were completely destroyed, other dealerships were now back in operation. Some had also managed to save their stocks, he said.
In other areas, the recovery in January was faster than the firm expected. Whether it will be sustained will also depend on government actions on the recovery, Ferdinando said.
Authorities had acted quickly to restore road links, which was impressive, he said.
“We could access the places in about three weeks,” he said.
Sri Lanka had a chance to ‘build back better’ with more resilient buildings in flood prone areas, Ferdinando said.
“I think resilient designs are something we have to focus on” he said.
“So along with the government, I think the construction sector and the building material sector can come together and propose these resilient designs.”
Construction sector recovery may be slowed by insufficient skilled labour.
“I think another aspect of it is the labor part of it,” he said. “Because upskilling and having your labor demand during this time is going to be critical.”
JAT had expanded overseas into countries including Bangladesh.
It had also acquired New Zealand-based industrial coating firm Miratone.
“When going international I think there are categories, being in emerging markets and in developed markets,” Ferdinando said.
“So, JAT has already been in emerging markets like Bangladesh. But entering developed markets like Australia and New Zealand presents a different set of challenges in terms of compliance and operational culture.
“Something that struck me is that we need to have self-confidence. It’s not an individual we are talking about; it’s a company and its employees, which translates to a whole new culture,” Ferdinando said.
JAT competed in Sri Lanka for 15 years, against the world’s third, fourth and seventh largest paint brands. All the brands were manufactured locally, and there was no ‘home advantage’.
“We have been maintaining our market share and in terms of quality and innovation we have been matching the top competitors,” Ferdinando said.
“What we found out was that in terms of compliance, innovation, and quality, we can certainly compete. It’s just that some of the competitors have much deeper pockets.
“We need to find niche markets, focused products, or strategic collaborations.”
JAT had forged international partnerships to bolster its technical capabilities, collaborating with institutions such as California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly).
“Through collaboration and thinking out of the box, we can compete from a capital point of view.”
Some global brands had research and development teams running to 1,200 while JAT had only 20. The firm was eyeing artificial intelligence to cut down product development time.
“If you look at AI and implement it properly, your product development lifecycle over a period of two years can be cut down by one-third,” Ferdinando said. (Colombo/Jan27/2026)