5.6% dip in tea exports in the last fiscal

The Tea Board data revealed that tea exports have dipped marginally in the last fiscal to 240 million kg from 254.50 million kg the year before — registering a fall of 5.6%. This drop in tea exports by the country has been the result of the dip to economic slowdown across the globe.

Meanwhile, the exports to CIS countries — the biggest importer of India tea — also declined marginally to 59.40m kg in the last fiscal from 60.72 mkg in 2018-19, the Tea Board said. Iran continued to rank as the second largest importer of Indian tea, with the country buying 46.47 mkg in 2019-20 – up from 41.02 mkg in the previous fiscal. Offtake by China also rose to 12.71 mkg from 10.58 mkg. Exports to the US, the UK and the UAE are the other three destinations where exports had touched double digits in 2019-20, the data said.

However, tea exports to Pakistan, however, significantly dropped – from 14.6 mkg in 2018-19 to 3.3 mkg the previous fiscal. The production of tea in March, the last month of fiscal 2019-20, recorded a sharp fall to 43.45 mkg from 74.59 mkg in the corresponding period of 2018-19.