Ceylon Tea exports earnings leap 11 per cent

Ceylon Tea exports have increased by 11 per cent for the four month period January to April this year reaching US$407 million compared to last year.

In 2022 earnings were at $367 million and in April this year earnings moved up 16 per cent to $93 million compared with $80 million the year before, brokers said.

These higher earnings were possible by high FOB per kg, value which more than compensated for a 14 per cent drop of quantities from 81.9 Mn kg to 70.2 Mn kg for the period January – April this year. The highest ever FOB of $5.78 per kg in the month of April took the cumulative FOB figure to a record $5.80 per kg.

With the depreciation of the Rupee last year earnings have shot up by a massive 58 per cent to Rs. 140 billion compared with Rs. 88 billion the year before.

Exports to and through Turkey continued to lead main destinations with a quantity of 8.7 Mn kg up 92 per cent on last year’s figure 4.5 Mn kg. Russia is in second position with a quantity up 6 per cent to 7.8 Mn kg compared with 7.3 the year before. Exports to Iraq have crashed 51 per cent from 15.3 Mn kg to 7.4 Mn kg this year. Exports to UAE have declined 28 per cent YoY to 5.2 Mn kg in 2023, whilst China makes up the top five destinations with a quantity of 3.1 Mn kg down 15 per cent from 3.7 Mn kg in 2022. (SD)