From being second-largest importer of Sri Lankan Tea or renowned Ceylon Tea in 2018, – Turkey has emerged As Sri Lanka’s number one tea importer which was reflected in the January - November 2019 official tea export statistics released by the Sri Lanka Tea Board recently.

Turkey was number 2 to Iraq in 2018 but had become the top on the list in 2019.

Other noteworthy importers are Russia, Iran, Libya, China, Azerbaijan, Syria and UAE.

Meanwhile, destinations such as USA, Germany, India and Saudi Arabia have shown a significant growth in 2019 compared to the corresponding period of 2018.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka Tea exports for November 2019 totalled 21.9 million kg showing a marginal gain of 0.6 million kg vis-à-vis 21.3 million kg of November 2018. Tea in packets has shown a growth YOY, whilst bulk tea has remained static while tea bags have shown a decline compared to November 2018.

The January-November 2019 cumulative exports totalled 268.9 million kg, showing a gain of 11.9 million kg when compared with the volume of 257.01 million kg of January-November 2018. All categories of exports(i.e. packeted tea, tea bags and bulk tea) have shown a growth YOY.

Revenue too, for the period January-November 2019 of Rs. 221.4 billion have recorded a gain of Rs. 10.8 billion vis-à-vis Rs. 210.6 billion of January-November 2018. Consequently, the FOB value of Rs. 823.51 per kg for January-November 2019 gained Rs. 3.83 vis-à-vis Rs. 819.68 per kg of January-November 2018.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka Tea Production for the month of November 2019 totalled 23.9 million kg, showing a decrease of 0.9 million kg vis-à-vis 24.8 million kg of November 2018. High Growns have shown a fairly significant growth YOY followed by Mediums, whilst Low Growns show a decline as against November 2018.

The January-November cumulative production for 2019 of 278.1 million kg shows a marginal gain of 0.5 million kg against the volume of 277.6 million kg of January-November 2018. On a cumulative basis, Medium Growns have shown a growth, whilst Low Growns have remained static. High Growns, however, show a decrease compared to January-November 2018.

The January-November 2019 cumulative CTC production totalled 21.6 million kg, showing a marginal decrease of 0.3 million kg when compared to 21.9 million kg of January-November 2018. On a cumulative basis, all elevations have shown a negative growth YOY.