Tea exports dip in first half

Sri Lanka’s tea exports have declined both in June as well as during the first half of the year, Ceylon Tea Brokers said.

It said in June total quantity of tea exported including re-exports with imported tea amounted to 27.79 Mn/kg, down by 9.4% or 2.88 Mn/kg compared to the same period last year. 

The FOB price per kg for the month June 2015 recorded Rs. 587.50 vis-à-vis Rs. 648.24 for the same period last year. The total export earnings for the month of June was Rs. 16.32 billion, down from Rs. 3.56 billion a year earlier.

Cumulative exports for the period January to June 2015 including re-exports with imported tea amounted to 151.55 Mn/Kg down by 5.88 million kilos from the first half of last year.

However, Ceylon Tea Brokers said despite the decline of the tea market in 2015, tea in bagshas recorded an FOB price per kgof Rs. 1083.28 per kg in June superseding Rs. 1080.37 per kg recorded in the same period in 2014. The FOB price of Green tea per kg was at Rs. 1435.66 per kg as against Rs. 1145.67 per kg (+289.99) last year.

Country wise analysis of exports shows that the Turkey which is a trading hub continues as the largest export destination from Sri Lanka followed by Russia and Iraq.

Ceylon Tea Brokers said Iraq and UAE (trading hub) shows a significant increase in imports of Ceylon Tea this year whilst China and India also shows a notable increase in their imports. Exports to Iran were down by 2.3 million kilos to 12.2 million kilos.