• January-November volumes down by 12% YoY; revenue down by $ 57 m

Tea sector is tasting bitter times with exports down in November year on year as well as in the first 11 months.

Forbes and Walker Tea Brokers said tea exports in November 2022 totalled 19.28 M/Kgs, showing a decrease of 6.59 M/Kgs vis-à-vis 25.87 M/Kgs of November 2021. All main categories have shown a negative variance compared to November 2021.

The FOB value of Rs. 1,992.05 per kilo in November 2022 declined marginally from the highest ever recorded in a calendar month of Rs. 2,077.46 in October 2022. The FOB value has seen an increase of Rs. 1,074.09 compared to Rs. 917.96 of November 2021 and in dollar terms a gain of 0.89.



In the first 11 months of 2022 cumulative exports totalled 230.89 M/Kgs, showing a decrease of 30.96 M/Kgs (12%) vis-à-vis 261.85 M/Kgs of January-November 2021. All categories have witnessed a decline in comparison with the corresponding period of 2021.

FOB value of Rs. 1,611.72 was an increase of Rs. 691.06 compared to Rs. 920.66 of January-November 2021.

Total average shows a positive variance of 0.38 in dollar terms when compared to the same period of 2021.

Forbes and Walker Tea Brokers said Iraq has remained the No. 1 major importer of Ceylon Tea with an increase of 8% in imports YoY for January-November 2022. Russia has secured second position with a total of 22.96 M/Kgs, which is a 6% decrease against total imports recorded for January-November 2022. UAE sits in 3rd place with a total of 20.34 M/Kgs followed by Türkiye, Iran, Azerbaijan and Libya respectively during the period January-November 2022.

A significant decrease in imports is reported from Türkiye (52%), Iran, (18%), China (20%), Chile (21%), Syria (21%), Japan (13%) and Jordon (27%) YoY.

A notable increase in imports is recorded from Azerbaijan (16%), Germany (4%), USA (8%) and Poland (5%) YoY as expanding markets for ‘Ceylon Tea’.

National tea sales average up YoY but dips MoM