Tea was first grown commercially in Sri Lanka (Ceylon) by the Scottish planter James Taylor in 1867. Eventually Ceylon Tea became one of the finest tasting teas in the world thanks to her overall, well balanced tasting profile with ideal strength, body, aroma and flavour. Meanwhile, As RAVI LADDUWAHETTY reported to Daily News, Chairman of the Tea Exporters Association (TEA) Mr. Sanjaya Herath predicted that the increased prices on Ceylon Tea will remain till around June 2020 until India resumes tea production domestically. Indian lockdown is one of the main reasons for this price hike.

In view of the tight global tea supply situation, there will definitely be a strong demand for Ceylon Tea in the short term and the prices will remain strong till end of May/ early June 2020, Mr. Herath said. Colombo Tea auction was not held for 2 weeks. Colombo tea auction was also not held for 2 weeks. This is also a reason for increased demand.

The Indian Tea Board and Tea Association have forecast that loss in tea production in India due to the lock down could be more than 100 million kg, about 80 million kg in the North India and more than 25 million in the South. India produces about 1200 million kg of tea annually and out of which 15-20 % is orthodox tea.

The strong demand for Ceylon Tea from Iran can be expected until India resumes their exports.  Once the Indian exporters start shipping tea to Iran under the special trading arrangements, Sri Lanka will witness decline in Iran business. An issue faced by the Ceylon Tea exporters is their inability to travel abroad to Ceylon Tea. Meanwhile, the COVID 19 has brought mixed results for tea growing nations as some are facing losses in tea crop due to lock down situation while origins like Sri Lanka have witnessed price hikes at the tea auction.

In the months of February and March, the tea production in China too suffered as the workers were unable to pluck tea in Hubei province due to the lock down situation.

Considering the sustainability of tea industry, this is a sad situation. There should be a balance in both demand and supply. Due to prevailing situation, most of the people are staying at home & of course they enjoy their favourite cuppa. Also there is a belief that black tea can lower the effect of COVID 19. But it’s not proven so far. The lock down in India occurred just in the time when Darjeeling first flush teas are produced. So this situation is in deed a bad time for those who were looking forward to sip fragrant, flavourful Darjeeling first flush. From the other end, the world community is fighting against the COVID 19 fever.

So let’s hope that the situation in India will be back to normal soon for the sack of innocent poor plantation workers.

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References

1. Original Post: http://www.dailynews.lk/2020/04/22/finance/216960/indian-lockdown-bolsters-colombo-tea-prices