November tea exports expand by 11% YoY

• November tea exports total 21.46 MnKgs​
• January  - November tea exports dip by 4.2% YoY
• Iraq, Türkiye, and UAE rank as top three importers of Ceylon tea for 2023 so far

 Ceylon Tea exports in November expanded by 11 percent Year-on-Year (YoY), totalling 21.46 Mnkgs.
Provisional data from Sri Lanka Customs showed that all categories have seen an improvement against the corresponding month of 2022.

FOB value in November 2023 was recorded at Rs. 1,725.77, a decline of Rs. 266.28 YoY compared to Rs. 1,992.05 in November 2022. Furthermore, barring Instant Tea, negative variances were recorded in all categories both in LKR and USD terms.

Meanwhile, cumulative analysis shows that for the January-November period, exports totalled 221.16 MnKgs, showing a decrease 4.2 percent YoY.

Tea Bags and Green Tea categories recorded a marginal growth, whilst the remaining product categories recorded a decrease against the same period of 2022.

FOB value for the first eleven months ending November, stood at Rs. 1,772.41, an increase of Rs. 160.69 when compared with the corresponding period of the previous year.

Looking at key markets, Iraq ranks as the largest importer of Ceylon Tea with a total of 30.53 MnKgs. 

However, its imports declined by 25 percent YoY.

Türkiye emerged as the second largest buyer of Ceylon Tea, with its imports totalling 28.24 MnKgs, which is a 108 percent YoY growth. The country also surpassed Russia, which ranks third, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), raking fourth whose exports have declined by 10 percent and 19 percent YoY.

 China has moved up to the fifth position with a marginal increase of 8 percent YoY. Other notable importer countries are Libya, Azerbaijan, Chile, Syria and Saudi Arabia. 

Tea exports to Iran dropped by about 56 percent YoY, moving it from the fifth position to the twelfth.