Tea exports drop by 50% in two months
Sri Lanka’s tea exports are half the normal quantities at this time of the year due to worker shortages amidst increased demand from overseas buyers.
Tea Exporters Association Chairman Jayantha Karunaratne said on Tuesday that the March and April exports had dropped by about 50 per cent compared to last year.
He noted currently tea prices are high but exporters are fighting hard since they are not yet fully geared to work since all workers have not been able to report to work.
While most workers are finding it difficult to report to work, others concerned about the COVID 19 refuse to return to Colombo under the circumstances, he explained.
Meanwhile tea exports have seen prices rise due to the limited amounts available and since most buyers were buying continuously due to concerns that there might be future lockdowns and difficulties could arise in transporting these to the market, it was pointed out.
However Sri Lanka is likely to see some improvement in the crop going forward as they expect increased production compared to the low crop experienced during the first quarter of this year.
Currently the key concern is the exporters’ inability to meet export orders to capacity, it was pointed out.
Mr. Karunaratne noted that at the moment the expensive teas are fetching higher prices since the average teas that can be bought from many countries can now only be purchased from Sri Lanka.
Other problems faced by exporters are that there are delayed payments from buyers and this finally impacts on the exporters’ borrowing costs, he said.
In addition, tea exporters are currently in discussion with the authorities on lifting of the ban on the import of tea packaging material as these are needed in exporting teas.