Ceylon Tea exports surge in February

Sri Lanka's tea exports have increased this year in February to 22.31 million kg an increase of 3.76 million kg compared to the same period last year when total exports were at 18.55 million kg, Forbes and Walkers Tea Brokers said.

All categories except for tea packets and Green Tea have shown improvements in comparison with the corresponding month of the previous year.

The FOB value in February 2024 was recorded at Rs.1, 789.43 a decline of Rs.250.82 YOY compared to Rs.2, 040.25 of February 2023. All categories have witnessed negative variances in SLR term and positive variances in USD terms expect for the instant tea segment.

Cumulative exports January - February totalled 41.08 million kg showing an increase of 4.97 million kg vis-a-vis 36.11 million kg in January - February 2023. All categories except for tea packets continue to show steady growth against the same period last year, the report stated.

The FOB value was at Rs.1, 770.92, a decrease of Rs.276.67 compared to Rs.2, 047.59 for the period January - February 2023.

Iraq has been ranked at No.1 amongst major importers of Ceylon Tea with a total of 5.30 million kg an increase of 14 per cent YOY in January - February 2024 against the previous year's 4.66 million kg.

UAE and Russia emerged at second and third positions respectively, surpassing Turkiye which recorded a decline of 38 per cent against the corresponding period of the previous year. Other notable importing countries were Iran, Saudi Arabia, China, Germany, Azerbaijan and Chile.  (SD)