Tea exports dip by 5.6 per cent in last fiscal

Web Desk

It was a bitter brew for India’s tea exporters with exports dipping marginally in the last fiscal to 240 million kg from 254.50 million kg the year before — a fall of 5.6 per cent — according to data.

Exports to CIS countries declined marginally to 59.40m kg in the last fiscal from 60.72m kg in 2018-19, the Tea Board data said. The economic slowdown across the globe was behind the dip.
Iran continued to be second largest importer with the country buying 46.47m kg in 2019-20 – up from 41.02m kg in the previous fiscal.
Offtake by China also increased to 12.71m kg from 10.58 m kg.

Exports to neighbouring Pakistan, however, saw a significant drop – from 14.6m kg in 2018-19 to 3.3m kg the previous fiscal. The US, the UK and the UAE are the other three destinations where the exports had touched double digits in 2019-20, the data said.
Production of tea in March, the last month of fiscal 2019-20, saw a steep fall to 43.45m kg from 74.59m kg in the corresponding period of 2018-19.