Sri Lanka’s tea exports record increase despite Covid 19 pandemic
Sri Lanka’s Tea Exporters’ Association (TEA) has reportedly stated that regardless of the disruptions caused by the new wave in Sri Lanka, tea exports so far this year are much better than that of the same period last year.
Speaking to The Morning, TEA President Sanjaya Herath, who is also in the management of UniWorld Teas, has revealed that tea exports in the country have increased by 20 million kg compared to 2020.
“Compared to the performance of January-March 2020, we have done better. This includes March and even April, which should have a good performance mainly because we had about 20 million kg of more tea exports compared to last year,” Herath has been quoted as saying.
As per the statistics collected from TEA, the cumulative production of January to March in 2021 amounted to 74.03 million kg, in which a gain of 20.35 million kg was witnessed compared to the volume of 53.68 million kg during January-March 2020.
According to statistics of tea exports, the cumulative tea exports of January-March 2021 amounted to 69.89 million kg, illustrating a gain of 10.31 million kg compared to 59.58 million kg during January-March seen in 2020.
This is also parallel to the revenue of Rs. 65.62 billion generated from January-March in 2021, which illustrates an increase of Rs. 16.38 billion compared to the Rs. 49.23 billion generated within the months of January-March last year.
In addition to this growing performance, Herath has further noted the rising challenges such as restrictions of operations, delays, and recent lockdowns affecting the tea export supply chain.
“Due to the third wave, there are several issues from a few of the organisations. Starting from Customs, we have had problems due to the restricted hours the employees have to comply with,” he has explained.
Despite a host of challenges, Herath has evaluated an overall growing performance.
OSL take:
Sri Lanka’s tea industry is focused on ensuring that the country regains it’s number one slot in the global tea market, which was once enjoyed by Ceylon tea. The price of Sri Lanka’s tea has seen an increase in global markets given its high quality. The country’s plantation sector is looking at developing and introducing new technologies to Sri Lanka’s tea industry in a bid to further expand the market share enjoyed by Ceylon tea in the global market. This has expanded business/investment opportunities in Sri Lanka’s tea industry.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/20210517/Z_4 |