January to November 2024 cumulative tea exports totalled 223.22 M/Kgs, recording an increase of 2.06 M/Kgs vis-à-vis 221.16 M/Kgs of January-November 2023.
Tea packets and instant tea categories have recorded negative variances, whilst tea in bulk, tea bags and green tea categories have shown positive variances against the same period of the previous year. FOB value for the period stood at Rs. 1,769.93, a decrease of Rs. 2.48 (increase of USD 0.45) vis-à-vis Rs. 1,772.41 of January-November 2023 Forbes and Walkers Research said.
All categories except for tea in bulk and tea packets showed negative variances in LKR terms in FOB value, whilst gains were recorded in USD terms in all categories when compared to the corresponding period in 2023. Meanwhile Iraq ranks at No. 01 amongst major importers of Ceylon Tea with a total of 30.37 M/Kgs, a marginal decline of 1% YoY in January-November 2024 against the previous year’s 30.53 M/Kgs, whilst Russia at 2nd place has witnessed an increase of 12% YoY with 22.88 M/Kgs vis-à-vis 20.52M/Kgs recorded in 2023.
The U.A.E with 19.61 M/Kgs (20% increase YoY) followed by Türkiye 16.39 M/Kgs (42% decrease YoY), China 10.67 M/Kgs (6% decrease YoY) and Iran 9.58 M/Kgs (84% increase YoY) have been cited as other notable importers of Ceylon Tea during the period of January-November 2024.