South Indian Tea Exports To Pick Up.

KOCHI: After a dull first half, the south Indian tea exports are bound to pick up in the coming months, according to The United Planters' Association of Southern India ( Upasi).

The lower tea exports (16.2 million kg) from India and South India in particular was on account of disturbance in West Asia North Africa (WANA) region and also due to payment problem with Iran, Upasi tea committee chairman Peter Mathias said.

However, with the situation improving rapidly in WANA regions, the export to the region is bound to pick up. The offering at the major auction centres at Mombasa and Colombo are very low indicating a tight supply position. The Kenyan offering at Mombasa has declined from 6.5 million kg to around 4.1 million kg. The quantity offered by Sri Lanka has shown marginal decline falling below 7 million kg. The Iran payment problem has also been partially sorted out, he said.

Lower Kenyan crop in the first half of the year resulted in a tight tea supply situation. The Kenyan crop was down by 34.5 million kg. Though this was partially compensated by higher North Indian crop of 23.9 million kg, the world tea production during the first half was lower by 20.6 million kg. The supply crunch resulted in the better price realization across auction centres in the world.

Source : economictimes.indiatimes.com