Sri Lanka’s tea export market holds steady

• Fairing well compared to rest of the world
• Improved performance at tea auctions last week 
• Exporters to Middle East find alternative routes for shipments

Sri Lanka’s tea export market is holding steady compared to the rest of the world, with improved performance at last week’s tea auctions as exporters to the Middle East adopted alternative routes for their shipments, according to the Sri Lanka Tea Board (SLTB). 

Speaking to The Sunday Morning Business, SLTB Chairman Rajpal Obeyesekere said that the performance at last week’s local tea auction was very encouraging and represented a marked turnaround compared to the previous week.

He further stated that the unsold quantities at last week’s auction also showed a recovery, returning to normal levels of around 10–12%. In comparison, during the previous week, the unsold quantities had surged beyond normal levels. 

“Last week there was a drop. This week there was no drop in prices and they remained constant compared to the previous week. Prices were averaging at acceptable levels. Also, withdrawals were averaging on par with normal withdrawal levels,” he stated.

Obeyesekere further stated that auction results during the previous week indicated that exporters had found alternate routes to transport their consignments to the Middle Eastern region.

Accordingly, he claimed that alternate routes had been identified to transport tea to destinations such as Iraq, Jordan, and Turkey. 

He further revealed that certain tea varieties popular in the Middle Eastern region had seen a dip in prices of around Rs. 100 last week. While prices are yet to recover, they have stabilised at these levels this week, supported by improved buying interest.

Source: The morning