Demand for Sri Lanka’s black tea increasing in China says SLTB Chairman
Chairman of Sri Lanka Tea Board (SLTB), Lucille Wijewardena has reportedly said that Chinese youth are acquiring a taste for Sri Lanka’s black tea with shipments to China growing strong this year.
“From nothing about three to five years ago, last year they bought 10 million plus kilos of tea,” Wijewardena has told Economynext.
Accordingly, in the first quarter of this year, almost 2.8 million kilos of ‘Ceylon tea’ were exported to China, up 210,300 kilograms or 8.2 percent from a year ago.
China’s market share of total Sri Lankan tea exports in the first quarter was 3.77 percent, which is a slight increase from a year ago.
“These numbers are huge,” Wijewardena has said. “And this is a great opportunity for our industry as we are now open to a market with the highest population in the world.”
Wijewardena has reportedly attributed the surge in tea exports to China mainly to Chinese youth developing a liking for consuming black tea with milk.
“And that is going to be a big market for us,” he has said, adding that they expect exports to China to increase further.
According to the report, China was the seventh highest export market for ‘Ceylon tea’ in March this year, ahead of other key markets like Syria, Germany and Japan.
Iraq was the top buyer of Sri Lankan tea in 2018, importing almost 10 million kilograms of tea, up by 4.02 percent from a year ago.
OSL take:
The continuous increase in demand for Sri Lankan black tea in China is a positive trend indicative of the slow yet steady growth of Sri Lanka’s tea trade. Sri Lankan tea exports are gradually picking up and are expected to record a further growth. The Sri Lankan government has also offered many incentives to businesses engaged in the tea trade to further boost tea exports. Therefore, foreign companies could explore business/investment opportunities in Sri Lanka’s tea sector. Interested investors could also explore the possibility of forming a partnership or joint venture with a local business.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/23052019/Z_8 |