- October tea production down by 8.05% YoY to 21.14 m kilos
- Production falls at all elevation levels compared to October 2023
- Jan.-Oct. crop improves by mere 0.54% to 196.21 m kilos
Sri Lanka’s tea crop in October has seen a drop in volumes, although cumulative production during the first 10 months has seen a marginal increase.
In October, tea production decreased by 8.05% year-on-year (YoY) to 21.14 million kilos, while the 2024 first 10 months’ crop saw a marginal increase of 0.54% compared to the same period a year ago.
Data analysed by Forbes and Walkers Research confirmed that in October, all elevations have shown a decrease in volume in comparison with the corresponding period of 2023.
High-grown elevation produced 4.01 million kilos, down by 3.38% YoY, whilst medium elevation production was 3.52 million kilos, down by 7.60% YoY, and low-grown elevation crop was down by 9.42% YoY to 13.43 million kilos. Green tea crop volumes also declined by 11.74% YoY to 179,542 kilos in October. However, all elevations compared to October 2022 are up by 11.36% to 2.16 million kilos.
January-October 2024 cumulative production totalled 217.65 million kilos, registering an increase of 1.16 million kilos or vis-à-vis 216.49 million kilos YoY. The first 10 months of 2024 registered a marginal increase of 0.54% YoY.
Forbes and Walker Research showed that compared to the corresponding period in 2023, high-grown have shown a negative variance, whilst medium and low-grown gained in the year 2024. High-grown elevation produced 44.59 million kilos, down by 7.92% YoY, whilst medium elevation production was 39.04 million kilos, up by 11.48% YoY. The low-grown elevation crop was marginally up by 0.77% to 132.15 million kilos and green tea crop was at 1.86 million kilos, down by 2.20% YoY.
When compared to the 211.76 million kilos of January-October 2022, the cumulative production of 2024 of all elevations, apart from the high-grown, shows an increase of 2.78% or 5.89 million kilos.
Industry growers had said the cost of production has steeply risen in addition to the wages hike.
“From fertiliser to electricity to labour to packaging; all the prices have hit the roof,” tea growers claimed.
As per the Sri Lanka Tea Board, the country’s total national production for the year 2023 was 256.04 million kilos, registering an increase of 4.20 million kilos compared with 251.84 million kilos in 2022. This made 2022 the lowest in 26 years when 246 million kilos were produced in 1995. In 2021, the total national production was 299.49 million kilos.
FT