Sri Lanka Tea Production for the month of December 2024 totalled 21.71 million Kgs, recording an increase of 1.91 million Kgs vis-à-vis 19.80 million Kgs of December 2023. All Elevations have recorded an increase in comparison with the corresponding month of 2023.
Compared to 19.70 million Kgs of December 2022, the corresponding month of 2024 shows an increase of 2.01 million Kgs.
January-December 2024 cumulative production totalled 262.16 million Kgs, recording an increase of 6.07 million Kgs vis-à-vis 256.09 million Kgs of January-December 2023. Compared to the corresponding period in 2023, High Growns have shown a negative variance, whilst Medium and Low Growns gained in the year 2024.
Compared to 251.84 million Kgs of January-December 2022, cumulative production of 2024 shows an increase of 10.32 million Kgs. On a cumulative basis, apart from the High Growns, all elevations have shown positive variances over the corresponding period of 2022.
The available tea crop figures for the period from January to December 2024 are appended below (in MT).
CATEGORY |
QUANTITY (MT) |
Orthodox |
236,216 |
CTC |
23,680 |
Green |
2,261 |
Total |
262,159 |
( SLTB )
Tea Exports for the month of December 2024 totalled 22.56 million Kgs, showing an increase of 1.81 million Kgs vis-à-vis 20.75 million Kgs of December 2023. All other categories have recorded gains, except for the Instant Tea category. FOB value in December 2024 was recorded at Rs. 1,701.05, a decline of Rs. 48.35 YoY compared to Rs. 1,749.40 of December 2023. In USD terms however, the month of December witnessed an increase of 0.48 in comparison with the corresponding period in the year 2023.
January-December 2024 cumulative exports totalled 245.78 million Kgs, recording an increase of 3.87 million Kgs vis-à-vis 241.91 million Kgs of January-December 2023. Tea Packets and Instant Tea segments have recorded negative variances, whilst all other categories have shown positive variances against the same period of the previous year.
FOB value for the period stood at Rs. 1,763.61, a decrease of Rs. 6.83 (increase of USD 0.45) vis-à-vis Rs. 1,770.44 of January-December 2023.
All other categories except for Tea in Bulk showed negative variances in LKR terms in FOB value, whilst gains were recorded in USD terms in all other categories when compared to the corresponding period in 2023.
Iraq ranks at No. 01 amongst major importers of Ceylon Tea with a total of 34.26 million Kgs, an increase of 5% YoY in January-December 2024 against the previous year's 32.75 million Kgs, whilst Russia at 2nd place has witnessed an increase of 10% YoY with 24.98 million Kgs vis-à-vis 22.61 million Kgs recorded in 2023. The U.A.E with 21.13 million Kgs (14% increase YoY) followed by Türkiye 17.37 million Kgs (42% decrease YoY) and China 11.56 million Kgs (6% decrease YoY). Azerbaijan has secured 6th placed with 10.43 million Kgs edging over Iran's 10.43 million Kgs (60% increase YoY) who have been cited as other notable importers of Ceylon Tea in the period of January-December 2024.
The tea export figures for the period from January to December 2024 are listed below (in MT).
DESCRIPTION |
QUANTITY (MT) |
Bulk |
111,074 |
Tea in Packets |
101,818 |
Tea In Bags |
25,584 |
Instant Tea |
2,623 |
Green Tea |
4,687 |
TOTAL |
245,787 |
COUNTRY |
2024 | 2023 |
IRAQ |
34,260 | 32,751 |
RUSSIA |
24,987 | 22,617 |
U.A.E. |
21,132 | 18,460 |
TURKEY | 17,734 | 30,411 |
CHINA |
11,564 | 12,319 |
AZERBAIJAN |
10,435 | 9,176 |
IRAN |
10,432 | 6,501 |
LIBYA |
10,291 | 11,127 |
SAUDI ARABIA |
9,138 | 7,012 |
CHILE |
8,638 | 7,887 |
(Source – Forbes & Walker Tea Brokers (Pvt) Ltd)
Sri Lanka Tea Production for the month of December 2023 totalled 19.81 million Kgs, showing an increase of 0.10 million Kgs vis-à-vis 19.71 million Kgs of December 2022. All Elevations except for the Low Grown Elevation have shown an increase in comparison with the corresponding period of 2022.
Compared to 20.52 million Kgs of December 2021, the production of December 2023 shows a decrease of 0.71 million Kgs.
January-December 2023 cumulative production totalled 256.04 million Kgs, recording an increase of 4.20 million Kgs vis-à-vis 251.84 million Kgs of January-December 2022. Compared to the corresponding period in 2022, all elevations have shown positive variances in the year 2023 aside from the Low Grown Elevation.
Compared to 299.49 million Kgs of January-December 2021, cumulative production of 2023 shows a decrease of 43.45 million Kgs. On a cumulative basis, all elevations show a decrease over the corresponding period of 2021.
The available tea crop figures for the twelve months’ period are appended below (in MT).
CATEGORY |
QUANTITY (MT) |
Orthodox |
231,138 |
CTC |
22,617 |
Green |
2,283 |
Total |
256,039 |
( SLTB )
Tea Exports for the month of December 2023 totalled 20.75 million Kgs, showing an increase of 1.45 million Kgs vis-à-vis 19.30 million Kgs of December 2022. Packeted Tea together with Tea Bags and Green Tea have seen an improvement against the corresponding month of 2022, whilst Tea in Bulk and Instant Tea have shown a decline.
January-December 2023 cumulative exports totalled 241.91 million Kgs, showing a decrease of 8.28 million Kgs vis-à-vis 250.19 million Kgs of January - December 2022. Tea Bags and Green Tea categories have recorded a marginal growth, whilst the remaining product categories recorded a decrease against the same period of 2022.
FOB value for the period stood at Rs. 1,770.44, an increase of Rs. 127.33 vis-à-vis Rs. 1,643.11 of January-December 2022.
All categories showed gains in USD terms as well when compared to the corresponding period of 2022.
Iraq remains at No. 1 amongst major importers of Ceylon Tea with a total of 32.75 million Kgs, a decline of 24% YoY against 43.24 million Kgs in 2022. Türkiye has emerged in 2nd place with 30.41 million Kgs and growing by 95% YoY surpassing Russia (3rd Position) and the U.A.E (4th Position) where exports have declined by 8% and 18% YoY respectively. China has moved up to No. 5 with an increase of 10% against the same period in 2022. Other notable importer countries are Libya, Azerbaijan, Chile, Syria and Saudi Arabia. Iran has dropped from 5th to 11th position with a 50% decline in imports for the period under review.
The tea export figures for the twelve months are listed below (in MT).
DESCRIPTION |
QUANTITY (MT) |
Bulk |
103,328 |
Tea in Packets |
103,328 |
Tea In Bags |
23,230 |
Instant Tea |
2,801 |
Green Tea |
4,516 |
TOTAL |
241,912 |
COUNTRY |
2023 |
2022 |
IRAQ |
32,751,246.20 |
43,245,923.90 |
TÜRKİYE |
30,411,858.41 |
15,595,067.65 |
RUSSIA |
22,617,598.51 |
24,733,188.06 |
U.A.E | 18,460,239.44 | 22,578,453.69 |
CHINA |
12,319,523.53 |
11,128,882.22 |
LIBYA |
11,127,949.46 |
11,200,518.84 |
AZERBAIJAN |
9,176,628.51 |
12,091,887.13 |
CHILE |
7,887,268.10 |
6,513,522.00 |
SYRIA |
7,083,646.66 |
6,153,517.59 |
SAUDI ARABIA |
7,012,586.93 |
6,270,569.36 |
(Source – Forbes and Walker Tea Brokers)