February tea exports up 20% YoY

• Monthly exports totalled 22.31 MnKgs
• Cumulative exports crossed 
• 40 MnKg mark
• FOB value dipped to Rs.1,789.43
• in February 
• Iraq remains No. 1 importer of Ceylon Tea to date, for year 2024 

The tea exports for the month of February expanded by about 20 percent year-on-year (YoY), the data from the Ceylon Tea Board showed. 
Sri Lanka exported a total of 22.31 million kilogrammes (MnKgs) of tea, showing a positive variance of 3.76 MnKgs, compared to 18.55 MnKgs in February 2023. All categories, except for tea packets and green tea, have shown improvements, in comparison with the corresponding month of the previous year. 
The cumulative exports for the first two months of the year totalled 41.08 MnKgs, showing an increase of 4.97 MnKgs, compared to 36.11 MnKgs in January-February 2023. All categories, except for tea packets, continue to show steady growth against the same period of the previous year.  
The FOB value in February 2024 was recorded at Rs.1,789.43, a decline of Rs.250.82 YoY, compared to Rs.2,040.25 in February 2023. All categories have witnessed negative variances in Sri Lankan rupee terms and positive variances in US dollar terms, expect for the instant tea segment. 

The FOB value for the first two months stood at Rs.1,770.92, a decrease of Rs.276.67 vis-à-vis Rs.2,047.59 in January-February 2023.   All categories showed negative variances in Sri Lankan rupee terms and a marginal increase in US dollar terms, except for green tea, when compared to the corresponding period of 2023. 
For the year so far, Iraq ranked as the largest importer of Ceylon Tea, with a total of 5.30 MnKgs, an increase of 14 percent YoY in January-February 2024, against the previous year’s 4.66 MnKgs.  The UAE (4.98 M/Kgs) and Russia (4.52 M/Kgs) emerged at the second and third positions, respectively, surpassing Turkey, which recorded a decline of 38 percent against the corresponding period of the previous year. The other notable importing countries are Iran, Saudi Arabia, China, Germany, Azerbaijan and Chile. 

National tea sales average down from last year
The national tea sales average for the month of February 2024 recorded Rs.1,320.71 (US $ 4.25), showing a decrease of Rs.117.49 and an increase of US $ 0.29 YoY, when compared with the corresponding period of the previous year.
When compared with January 2024, it is a gain of Rs.45.40 and an increase of US $ 0.26.
Elevation wise, the High Grown average for the month recorded an increase of Rs.78.73 and a gain of US $ 0.35 month-on-month (MoM), whilst a decrease of Rs.233.59 and US $ 0.10 is recorded YoY.
The Medium Grown average for the month recorded a gain of Rs.70.45 and US $ 0.32 MoM, whilst in comparison to the corresponding month last year, it shows a decrease of Rs.100.53 and an increase of US $ 0.26 YoY.
The Low Grown average for the month recorded a gain of Rs.17.79 and US $ 0.18 MoM, whilst a decrease of Rs.80.21 and an increase of US $ 0.44 is recorded YoY.
All elevations witnessed a decline during the period January-February 2024, in comparison to the corresponding period of 2023, in Sri Lankan rupee terms. When compared to the same period, in US dollar terms, the High Growns recorded a decline, whilst the Medium and Low Grown elevations recorded a positive variance.