October tea sale averages slide

Sri Lanka’s national tea sales average for October declined to Rs. 1,172.15 (US$ 4.02) per kilogram, down by Rs. 35.84 and US$ 0.02 compared with September’s Rs. 1,207.99 (US$ 4.04), according to data from the Sri Lanka Tea Board. 

Despite the month-on-month drop, the October average marked a year-over-year increase of Rs. 44.01 and US$ 0.53 from Rs. 1,128.14 (US$ 3.49) in October 2023.

High-grown teas recorded a month-on-month rise, with an increase of Rs. 6.67 and US$ 0.12, while year-over-year figures showed gains of Rs. 125.60 and US$ 0.77. 

Medium-grown teas posted a monthly decline of Rs. 23.46 in rupee terms, though dollar value rose by US$ 0.01, and a year-over-year increase of Rs. 42.88 and US$ 0.47. 

Low-grown teas saw declines in both rupee and dollar terms on a monthly basis, down by Rs. 49.34 and US$ 0.06, but registered a year-over-year increase of Rs. 14.19 and US$ 0.46.

Cumulative results from January to October 2024 show that all tea elevations recorded positive variances in both rupee and dollar terms compared with the corresponding period in 2023.