The report being handed over to the Sri Lanka Tea Board. The picture shows Romesh Walpola, Head of Operations, John Keells, Sudath Munasinghe, Chief Executive Officer, John Keells, Lalith Hettiarachchi, Chairman, Sri Lanka Tea Board and Hishantha de Mel, Manager - Tea, John Keells

John Keells, the tea brokering subsidiary of the JKH Group, has released its annual issue of the Tea Review for 2007 where it discussed the impact of the global economy on the tea industry and also shows a comprehensive account of the market, global and local tea production and exports.

John Keells said in a statement that the according to the report, the unrest experienced on the plantations in the first quarter of the year and insufficient use of fertilizer caused Sri Lanka tea production to decline by 2% in 2007 in comparison to the previous year. With a stringent approach by newcomers Kenya and China, Sri Lanka is compelled to compete on price instead of quality as the supply exceeds demand with higher cost of production and middlemen margins.

“As China established to the world that effective production is not a result of the use of agro chemicals, micro-organisms and other hazardous components, the report states that many factories in Sri Lanka are implementing pre-harvest and harvesting practices to ensure it is free of pesticide residues,” the statement said.