Drought has pushed tea crop in February down to 17.9 million kilos the lowest in over a decade.

Forbes and Walker Tea Brokers said the previous monthly crop was 12.8 million kilos recorded in February 2009. In comparison to a year earlier, the latest February crop reflect a decline of 3.8 million kilos.

In February 2020 the High and Medium Growns showed a marginal gain compared to a year earlier. However, Low Grown production of 10.1 million kilos was down by 28.3% from February 2019. Forbes and Walker Tea Brokers said this was the lowest production for a single month since February 2009 when only 6.5 M/kgs were recorded.

In the first two months of 2020, cumulative tea crop was 39.8 million kilos, down by 5.1 million kilos from the corresponding period of last year. High Growns have shown a growth whilst Medium Growns have shown a marginal decrease. Low Growns have shown a significant decrease as well.

CTC production for February 2020 was 1.7 million kilos up 1.6 million kilos from a year earlier.

High Growns have shown a significant gain year on year whilst Mediums have recorded a marginal gain. Low Growns CTC crop was lower as well.

Cumulative CTC production for January-February 2020 was 3.8 million kilos, up 0.4 million kilos from a year earlier.

High Grown have shown a significant growth vis-à-vis 2019, whilst Mediums have shown a marginal gain with Low Growns recording a decrease compared to January-February 2019 according to Forbes and Walker Tea Brokjers.

Tea prices hit record high at maiden eAuction