Nov. tea output down 9% on bad weather

Sri Lanka’s tea production in November fell 8.9 per cent year-on-year due to heavy rain but rose 14.2 per cent in the first 11 months of 2010 from a year earlier, the State-run Tea Board said on Friday.

Tea output in November dipped to 26.67 million kg from 29.28 million kg in the same month last year. Output in January to November jumped to 302.45 million kg from 264.8 million in the same period last year.

“Heavy rain affected the pruning in the second half of November,” said H.D. Hemarathne, Director General of the Sri Lanka Tea Board.

“But overall the output is good due to fairly good weather and better agricultural practices throughout the year. We expect output of at least 325 million kg and export revenue to definitely be over $1.4 billion,” he said.

If this forecast proves accurate, both output and export earnings would be at a record high this year.    Output fell nine per cent to 289.8 million kg last year from an all-time output peak of 318.7 million kg in 2008 due to adverse weather and a lack of fertiliser, along with a labour strike.

Sri Lanka’s annual earnings from tea exports fell 6.8 per cent to $1.2 billion last year after hitting a record peak of $1.28 billion in 2008.

Export revenue from January to September rose 17.6 per cent to $995.8 million compared with a year ago, Central Bank data showed.

Tea is one of the $42 billion economy’s main foreign currency earners, along with remittances, garment exports and tourism.