Tea industry experts are optimistic, that the fertilizer issue will be addressed satisfactorily sooner than later, for the continued maintenance of an export industry, that is renowned for quality of product, that brings in substantial and significant foreign revenue to the country and to achieve about 85 million kgs to 90 million kgs for the balance four months of the year 2021.
This year (2021) there is concern of whether these quantities could be achieved, primarily due to the availability of suitable fertilizer required by the tea plants and at the time it is required for application. The non-availability of correct fertilizer at the required time will not only affect crop but could also affect quality of the harvested leaf.
Taking into consideration and based on the data published by Sri Lanka Customs, January to August, Sri Lanka’s Tea Exports are on a recovery mode from the first pandemic year of 2020, they pointed out.
In 2019 for the same period, an export volume of approximately 196 million kgs was recorded, whilst in 2020 it was approximately 174 million kgs, a drop of approximately 11%. For the same period in 2021 a quantity of approximately 188 million kg was exported, a gain of about 8% in 2020.
“With most consuming countries recovering from the pandemic, it is an encouraging note for our export, they pointed out.”
In value terms, Sri Lankan tea exports earned about USD 916 mn in 2019, but dropped by about 12% in the same period 2020 to about USD 806 mn. January to August 2021 the recorded value of tea exports is around USD 882 million, a gain of about 9%.
Tea Production, as published by the Sri Lanka Tea Board, for January to August 2021 is about 212 Mnkg, as against 179 million kg in the year 2020 and 211 million kgs in 2019.
September to December 2020 tea production was about 100 million kgs and in 2019 this figure was about 89 Million kgs.
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