Tea exports rebound in 2023 despite 4.1 percent drop in October.

By: Staff Writer

Colombo (LNW): Sri Lanka’s tea industry has shown remarkable progress in 2023, witnessing significant improvements in production and exports this year despite the slight decline in October, Plantation ministry sources revealed .

In Jun-23, Sri Lanka produced 22,990 metric tons (mt) of tea, marking a 14% year-on-year (YoY) increase.

The recovery in Sri Lanka’s tea production can be attributed to higher fertilizer supplies, which boost yields in Sri Lanka’s key growing areas.

Moreover, India, another major tea-producing country, started the year with inadequate rainfall, severely reducing yields in the tea lands of North India and leading to rising production costs.

Consequently, buyers have turned their attention to Sri Lanka. It is anticipated that Sri Lanka will produce 270,000 mt of tea in 2023, exceeding last year’s 251,500 mt.

Sri Lanka’s rebound from the previous year’s setbacks is anticipated to continue, ensuring a good year for the tea sector and contributing to Sri Lanka’s economic recovery.

The tea sector in Sri Lanka has experienced growth in 2023, with improvements in production and export.

After facing challenges in the previous year, the country’s focus on enhancing tea production has started to yield positive results. In Jun-23, Sri Lanka produced 22,990 metric tons (mt) of tea, marking a 14% year-on-year (YoY) increase.

Overall, during the first six months of 2023, tea production slightly increased by 1% YoY, reaching 133,440 mt. The improvement in production in 2023 is mainly driven by higher production in High & Medium Grown teas, while Low Grown teas saw a marginal increase.

Sri Lanka’s tea exports fell 4.1 percent from a year ago to 18.2 million kilograms in October 2023, but rupee revenues went up to 354 billion rupees from 333 billion, industry data showed.

Up to October exports were down 5.6 percent to 199 million kilograms, a report by Ceylon Tea Brokers quoting Sri Lanka Tea Board data showed.

The US dollar value of exports were 1,083 million US dollars, marginally up from 1,061 million dollars.

Sri Lanka’s export tea prices which went up to 6.13 dollars on average in March was down to 5.25 dollars by October.

Iraq bought 28.09 million kilograms, down from 38.4 million a year ago. Turkey recovered to 25.5 million kilograms from last year’s 11.7 million kilos.

Russia was marginally down to 19.0 million from 20.6 million last year and UAE was 14.7 million down from 18.3 million last year.