Sri Lanka 2010 tea output at record 329.4 m kg

Monday, 24 January 2011 00:55 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Reuters: Sri Lanka’s 2010 full-year tea production rose 13.1 per cent to a record 329.4 million kg, the Indian Ocean island nation’s Tea Board said on Friday.

The record crop grew from 291.1 million in 2009, and surpassed the previous top mark of 318.7 million kg set in 2008. December dipped to 25.7 million kg from 26.3 million kg in the same month last year.

“It was due to good weather and favourable agricultural practices,” Sri Lanka Tea Board Director General H.D. Hemarathna told Reuters.

Output fell nine per cent to 289.8 million kg last year from an all-time output peak of 318.7 million kg in 2008 due to adverse weather and a lack of fertiliser, along with a labour strike.

Sri Lanka’s annual earnings from tea exports fell 6.8 percent to $1.2 billion last year after hitting a record peak of $1.28 billion in 2008.

Export revenue from January to November rose 16.7 per cent to $1.2 billion compared with a year ago, Central Bank data showed.

Tea is one of the main foreign exchange earners for Sri Lanka’s $ 42 billion economy, along with remittances, garments and tourism. It is one of the biggest black tea producers in the world, along with India and Kenya.

Lanka Commodity Brokers on record crop

SRI LANKA has recorded a tea crop of 25.6 MKGS in December, 2010, which is approximately 0.5 MKGS higher than what was achieved during the same month in the previous year.

During 2010, an all time record crop of 329.3 MKGS has been harvested, which betters the previous record of 318.6 MKGS achieved in 2008.

During the year under review the High and Medium elevations have recorded production figures of 72.3 MKGS and 44.3 MKGS which is a gain of 5.9 MKGS and 11.1 MKGS respectively over the 2009 production, whilst the Low Grown production of 195.6 MKGS is an improvement of 22.5 MKGS over the crop recorded in 2009.

In percentage terms, however, the Medium Grown teas have increased their production by 25.04% yoy, whilst the High and Low Grown teas have registered gains of 8.27% and 13.00%, respectively.

(Source: Lanka Commodity Brokers Ltd.)