July tea exports down 6.2% YoY

The tea exports for the month of July 2024 totalled 21.35 million kilogrammes, showing a 6.2 percent year-on-year (YoY) decline.

The tea in bulk and packeted tea shows negative variances, whilst tea bags have recorded a marginal gain in comparison with the corresponding month of the previous year.

The FOB value in July 2024 was recorded at Rs.1,773.70, an increase of Rs.158.39 YoY, compared to Rs.1,615.30 of July 2023. All main categories have recorded positive variances in both the Sri Lankan rupee and US dollar terms.

The January-July 2024 cumulative exports totalled 140.47 million kilogrammes, recording an increase of 5.48 million kilogrammes vis-à-vis 134.99 million kilogrammes of January-July 2023. The tea packets, instant tea and green tea have recorded negative variances, whilst tea in bulk and tea bags have shown positive variances against the same period of the previous year.

The FOB value for the period stood at Rs.1,771.45, a decrease of Rs.56.13 (an increase of US $ 0.26) vis-à-vis Rs.1,827.58 of January-July 2023. 

All categories showed negative variances in the Sri Lankan rupee terms in the FOB value, whilst gains were recorded in the US dollar terms when compared to the corresponding period in 2023.  

Iraq ranks as the largest importer of Ceylon Tea, with a total of 17.84 million kilogrammes, a marginal decline of 2 percent YoY in January-July 2024 against the previous year’s 18.29 million kilogrammes. Russia ranks as the second largest, showing an increase of 6 percent YoY with 15.02 million kilogrammes vis-à-vis 14.23 million kilogrammes recorded in 2023. 

The UAE, with 14.08 million kilogrammes (a 50 percent increase YoY) followed by Turkey (10.59 million kilogrammes), Iran (7.05 million kilogrammes) and China (6.89 million kilogrammes) have been cited as other notable importers of Ceylon Tea in the period of January-July 2024.