Ceylon Tea brews on delayed shipments
Ceylon Tea is facing issues with regard to shipments as both bulk and value added teas have reduced in supply added to delays by about a week.
Currently there are only 50 per cent of bulk orders and 20 per cent of value added teas that are shipped out of Colombo due to a shortage of workers, Tea Exporters Association (TEA) Chairman Sanjaya Herath told the Business Times on Monday.
“Most of our value added orders have got pushed back since we are unable to get it done,” he said.
He noted that currently they were facing shipping delays of about a week since there is a shortage of staff and the packaging process is taking time to get the teas to the vessels. In addition, exporters are facing issues related to limited availability of packaging material and support services in packing is getting back to normalcy so there is a big bottleneck, he pointed out.
Constraints as a result of worker shortages is happening since most are finding it difficult to cross the borders and report to work, he explained.
Some exporters are using the machines and some are carrying out manual packaging “getting this has been a real nightmare”, Mr. Herath noted.
“Buyers are behind us but there is a time lag,” he emphasized adding that usually getting the teas to a container takes a maximum of about two to three days but now it takes about a week and some others are facing more than a week’s delay as well.
The present Ramazan period will generate more interest, Mr. Herath said adding that everybody from Iran, Iraq and all West Asian nations want a regular supply. Moreover, people buy before the season begins but due to the lockdown they would have not been able to do so and tea is considered the cheapest beverage to consume, so there is a big demand.
Even though ports in these countries generally function “we have not been able to meet the Ramazan demand – but still goods are on the way,” he said.
In addition, freight rates have increased slightly and calling of vessels has also dropped and now there is more demand coming in, Mr. Herath explained.
The shortage of staff is about 50-60 per cent and today most companies are compelled to find housing for workers as they are being asked to leave places they have been boarded at, the TEA Chairman said.
The industry noted that the March export figures were down by almost 50 per cent and they expect April to be affected to a lesser extent and this trend of a dip in exports is likely to continue until the end of the year, Mr. Herath said.