Because of the substantial increase in the price, India’s earnings from tea exports till May in the current calendar year has risen 11.48 per cent despite a fall in the volume shipped, reveals an analysis of the latest data with the Tea Board.
In Kenya, there was a shortage of about 10 per cent in the production till May due to adverse weather and this reduced the availability of Kenyan tea in the world market. Besides, there was anxiety among the importers of the adequate availability of Kenyan teas in the coming months due to weather predictions. Consequently, importers scouted for teas from other sources including India.
This pushed up the price for the Indian teas to average ₹258.16 a kg from 215.76 in January-May 2020. This meant that every kg fetched ₹42.40 more than in January-May 2020 – an increase of 19.65 per cent.
The higher price reduced the intake by some importers. Trade restrictions in many countries due to the rising trend in Covid-19 also reduced the orders, exporters said. Consequently, the total volume shipped fell to 71.07 million kg (mkg) from 76.28 mkg in January-May 2020 – a decline of 6.83 per cent.
Nevertheless, because of the higher unit price, the overall earnings from tea exports rose to ₹1,834.74 crore from ₹1,645.85 crore in January-May 2020. This meant an increase of ₹188.89 crore or 11.48 per cent in the country’s exchequer.
South India fares better
Although this trend was visible in both North and South, the South Indian tea exports fared better.
In the South, the export prices rose to an average of ₹228.41 a kg from ₹191.83 in January-May 2020 – an increase of 19.07 per cent – but this reduced the volume shipped to 31.45 mkg from 32.23 mkg – a fall of 2.42 per cent. However, because of the higher price, the overall earnings rose to ₹718.36 crore from ₹618.27 crore in January-May 2020 – a gain of 16.19 per cent.
In the North, the export prices rose to an average of ₹281.77 a kg from ₹233.28 in January-May 2020 – an increase of 20.79 per cent – but this reduced the volume shipped to 39.62 mkg from 44.05 mkg – a fall of 10.06 per cent. However, because of the higher price, the overall earnings rose to ₹1,116.38 crore from ₹1,027.58 crore in January-May 2020 – a gain of 8.64 per cent.