Tea export to Pakistan and Afghanistan set to surge

25 May 2011 Evaluate

India exported nearly 20 million kg of tea to Afghanistan and Pakistan last year, which is expected to surge as order from the region is increasing. The Indian Tea Association feels that due to constant effort of Indian producer-exporters to push teas into Pakistan and Afghanistan, has started yielding results. The association is also hopeful to achieve last year's export to the region this year as well. Pakistan drinks the crush-tear-curl (CTC) teas and the per-capita consumption in Pakistan is around 1 kg.

In 2010, the exports stood at 193 million kg, which were 2.3 percent lower compared to that of 198 million kg in 2009 marking lower production as well as exports. This year traders are looking to recover some lost ground. Official statistics for destination-wise exports available for the January-May 2010 period show that exports to Afghanistan and Pakistan (known as AfPak) increased to 12.2 million kg from 7.4 million kg in the year-ago period. The Tea Board official estimated to have touched 20 million kg by December.

The industry feels that the opportunities provided by the buyer-seller meet at the recent India Tea Festival in Abu Dhabi for exports to countries like Pakistan will help overcome the hurdles posed by difficult political equations in the case of Pakistan and the turmoil and logistics in the case of Afghanistan. The meeting in Abu Dhabi was also attended by many associations and trade bodies from Pakistan and held trade talks freely.

The industry is worried about the payment crisis in Iran, which imports orthodox teas. India's production of orthodox tea is going to suffer a big blow this year as the Iran payment crisis remain unresolved and there would be drop in exports to Iran. In the last six months, tea prices have come down by almost 15%, producers and exporters are apprehending losing out on one of the biggest orthodox destinations. In 2010, India exported 3-4 million kg of tea to Iran as compared to 11.5 million kg in 2009. The Tea Board has taken up the matter with the finance and commerce ministries and is hopeful that solution will be arrived at shortly.

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