Sri Lanka tea production for the period January-December 2018 reached 303,843 MT showing a decrease of 3,237 MT against the volume of 307,080 MT registered during the same period of 2017. The decline in tea production has reflected in two categories – orthodox and green teas while CTC tea production has rose over the previous years' volume. The orthodox tea production has come down by 5,322 MT with green tea segment registering a decrease of 23 MT only over the 2017-2018 period . The non-availability of an accepted weedicide , labour issues may have contributed towards the decline in tea production in high and medium grown elevations. The adverse weather conditions affected the low grown elevation tea cultivation to a great extent.

 CTC tea production for year 2018 recorded 23,902 MT, registering the highest ever volume surpassing the previous best of 23,303 MT achieved in 2012. It also records a gain of 2,108 MT vis-à-vis 21,794 MT produced in 2017. The breakdown of 2018 tea production is appended below ( in MT ).

Production Method 2018
Orthodox 227,340
CTC 23,902
Green 2,601
Total 303,843

Sri Lanka tea exports for the period January-December 2018 reached 282,363 MT against the volume of 288,984 MT registered for 2017 showing a decrease of 6,621 MT . The decline in tea exports is a result of some external and internal factors. Among the external factors the US financial sanctions on Iran was a key issue while the decrease in tea production in the country top the domestic issues . The decline in tea exports has witnessed in all categories of tea exports.

The total export revenue of Rs. 231.7 billion realized during January-December 2018 records a deficit of Rs.1.6 billion when compared with Rs.233.3 billion achieved during the same period of 2017. However, it is noteworthy that average FOB value for January-December 2018 of Rs.820.75 per kg has shown a growth of Rs.13.31 vis-à-vis Rs.807.44 per kg of January-December 2017 thus recording the highest FOB value ever surpassing the previous best which was realized in 2017 in rupee terms. In Dollar terms however, 2017 unit rate is marginally higher than 2018. The total tea export revenue in USD terms is estimated at USD 1.4 billion.

Iraq has emerged as the number one importer of Sri Lankan Tea in 2018 followed by Turkey and Russia with Iran retaining the 4th position. Other noteworthy importers are Libya, UAE, Azerbaijan, Syria and China. Meanwhile, destinations such as USA, Saudi Arabia, and Belgium too have shown a fairly significant growth in 2018, whilst destinations such as Japan and Ukraine have shown a decrease YOY. The summary of Sri Lanka tea exports in 2018 are given below ( in MT ).

Tea Category 2018
Tea in Bulk 122,428
Tea in Packets 131,256
Tea in Bags 21,578
Instant Tea 2,481
Green Tea 4,620
Total 282,363

Tea plantation 1

MAJOR IMPORTERS OF SRI LANKA TEA JANUARY TO DECEMBER 2018 ( MT )

COUNTRY 2018
Iraq 38,435
Turkey 35,634
Russia 30,580
Iran 23,914
Libya 13,686
U.A.E. 11,077
Azerbaijan 10,550
Syria 10,180
China 10,020
Chile 7,540
Japan 7,416
Germany 6,042
Saudi Arabia 5,590
USA 5,561
Hong Kong 4,872

 

MONTHLY TEA AUCTION AVERAGE PRICES FOR ALL THREE ELEVATIONS IN LKR AND USD PER KG

Months 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
  LKR USD LKR USD LKR USD LKR USD LKR USD
January 424.61 3.24 410.88 2.85 596.90 3.95 637.75 4.16 587.16 3.23
February 418.28 3.11 403.84 2.83 596.85 3.97 633.73 4.10 581.96 3.27
March 415.17 3.08 412.03 2.87 638.76 4.01 613.13 3.95 585.92 3.38
April 408.35 3.01 429.34 2.99 648.52 4.05 609.00 3.88 578.23 3.34
May 396.64 2.97 449.15 3.08 628.74 4.02 591.24 3.76 539.55 3.09
June 398.16 3.01 432.12 2.96 606.87 3.95 545.67 3.39 494.48 2.78
July 402.18 3.04 453.27 3.18 593.09 3.86 536.85 3.41 497.35 2.84
August 385.54 2.91 505.40 3.46 632.00 4.13 534.02 3.34 545.34 3.06
September 367.41 2.65 526.86 3.60 654.41 4.27 5373.77 3.25 512.83 2.88
October 390.14 2.81 577.08 3.88 647.61 4.19 586.19 3.48 527.34 2.94
November 412.19 2.92 599.10 4.01 628.98 4.11 589.35 3.36 n/a  n/a
December 417.17 2.95 580.46 3.91 619.11 4.11 572.64 3.18 n/a n/a