March tea exports up 18% YoY

• January - March exports surpass 60 MnKgs
• Cumulative F.O.B value reaches Rs. 1,779.43, showing a Rs. 250-plus  decrease against the corresponding year-to-date period of 2023
• Iraq maintains top position amongst leading importer countries of Ceylon Tea for the cumulative period of 2024

Ceylon Tea exports in March expanded 18 percent Year-on-Year (YoY) totalling 21.25 MnKgs. 
All categories except for Instant Tea have shown improvement in comparison to the corresponding month of the previous year, Forbes and Walker Tea Brokers said in a report.

FOB value in March 2024 recorded at Rs. 1,795.87, a decline of Rs. 223.00 YoY compared to Rs. 2,018.87 of March 2023. All categories have witnessed negative variances in rupee terms, whilst Tea in Bulk and Green Tea have recorded marginal increases in US$ terms.

January-March 2024 cumulative exports totalled 62.32 MnKgs, showing a 15 percent YoY decrease when compared with the corresponding period of the previous year. All categories except for Instant Tea continue to show steady growth against the same period of the previous year. 

FOB value for the period stood at Rs. 1,779.43, a decrease of Rs. 258.61 when compared with the same period in 2023.

All categories showed negative variances in Rupee terms, but a marginal increase in US$ terms only for Tea in Bulk and Green Tea segments, whilst the others recorded a negative variance when compared to the corresponding period in 2023. 

Iraq ranked as the largest importers of Ceylon Tea with a total of 8.41 MnKgs, an increase of 45 percent YoY in January-March 2024. The UAE ranked second followed by Russia. The two markets surpassed Türkiye which saw a 40 percent decline against the corresponding period of the previous year. Other notable importers countries are Iran, Saudi Arabia, China, Azerbaijan, Germany and Chile.

Production dips 12% YoY

Tea production in March dipped 12 percent Year-on-Year (YoY), totalling 19.56 MnKgs.

High and Mid Grown elevations have shown an increase, whilst the Low Grown elevation shows a decrease of 2.93 MnKgs in comparison with the corresponding month of 2023, tea brokers said.

Compared to 22.24 MnKgs of March 2022, the corresponding month shows a decrease of 2.68 MnKgs.
January-March 2024 cumulative production totalled 58.16 MnKgs, recording a decrease of 1.35 MnKgs compared to the corresponding period in 2023.

When compared with 63.33 MnKgs of January-March 2022, cumulative production of 2024 shows a decrease of 5.17 MnKgs.