October tea exports decline 22%

Ceylon Tea exports for the month of October totalled 19 MnKgs, a dip of 5.34 MnKgs when compared with the corresponding month of the previous year, which is a 22 percent year-on-year (YoY) decline.

According to the latest tea report from Forbes & Walker Tea Brokers, all main categories showed a negative variance compared to October 2021.

Cumulative analysis shows that for the January to October 2022 period, exports totalled 211.61 MnKgs, showing a decrease of 10 percent when compared with the same period in 2021.  Here again, all categories have witnessed a decline in comparison with the corresponding period of 2021.

Iraq has remained the largest importer of Ceylon Tea with an increase of 16 percent in imports YoY during January-October 2022 period. 

Russia ranks as the second largest market for tea exports from Sri Lanka, but quantities to the federation dipped by 9 percent YoY. 

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) sits in third place with a total of 18.32 MnKgs followed by Türkiye, Iran, Azerbaijan, and Libya.

Significant YoY decreases in imports were recorded from Türkiye (55 percent), Iran, (14 percent), China (18 percent), Chile (15 percent), Syria (21 percent), Japan (15 percent), and Jordon (27 percent).

Notable increases in imports were recorded from Azerbaijan (12 percent), Germany (8 percent) and Poland (15 percent) YoY as expanding markets for Ceylon Tea.

Meanwhile, October 2022 recorded the highest FOB value of Rs. 2,077.46 in a calendar month surpassing the previous best of Rs. 1,981.63 recorded in September 2022. 

This was the first time in history, where the FOB value crossed the Rs.2,000 mark. 

The FOB value has seen an increase of Rs. 1,172.45 compared to Rs. 905.01 in October 2021 and in US dollars terms a gain of 1.19.