Tea exports down 22% in March, 15% in first quarter

• Declining trend both in tea production and exports continues 

• Türkiye, Iraq, and Russia emerge as largest importers of Ceylon Tea

• For Jan-Feb period SL earned US$ 204.1mn from tea exports, up by 6.3% YoY

• CB says increased export earnings due to price increases as volumes registered decline

Sri Lanka’s tea exports dipped 22 percent year-on-year (YoY) to 17.97 MnKgs in March continuing the declining trend seen in both tea production and exports in recent times, the data released by Forbes & Walker Tea Brokers showed.

Among the categories, bulk tea showed a substantial decrease, while packeted tea showed a significant increase, and to a lesser extent tea bags when compared to March 2022.

Cumulative exports for the January-March 2023 period too contracted by 15 percent YoY to 54.08 MnKgs.

Here again, tea in bulk showed a substantial decrease in export quantities, whereas packeted tea showed a significant increase and tea bags to a lesser extent when compared to March 2022.

Meanwhile, FOB value in March 2023 recorded an increase of Rs.973.73 to Rs.2, 018.87 compared to Rs.1, 045.14 in March 2022.

FOB value of US$ 6.10 per kilo in March 2023 was the highest ever FOB value for a calendar month in US dollar terms surpassing the previous best of US$ 5.74 recorded in October 2022. This was a gain of US$ 1.97 compared to March 2022. 

In terms of markets, Türkiye has emerged as the biggest importer of Ceylon Tea with an increase of 102 percent YoY in January-March 2023. Iraq, which had decreased its imports by 54 percent YoY,  secured the second position.

Russia ranked as the third largest importer of Ceylon tea whereas the UAE moved down to the fourth position with imports reducing by 27 percent YoY. Other notable importers were Libya, China, Azerbaijan, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Germany.

According to Central Bank data for the January-February 2023 period, Sri Lanka earned US$ 204.1 million from tea exports, up by 6.3 percent from a year ago.

However, the Central Bank said “increased earnings from tea exports were mainly due to price increases as the volumes registered a decline.