India's tea production falls 9.7% in 2020: Tea Board

05 Feb 2021 Evaluate

The state-run Tea Board said Indian tea production in 2020 fell 9.7% from a year ago due to heavy flooding and coronavirus movement restrictions, lifting average prices by nearly a third to a record high. The price rise supported the beleaguered Indian tea industry, which was struggling with rising production costs, but trimmed exports from the south Asian country.

In 2020, India produced 1255.60 million kilograms of tea, down 9.7% from a year ago as floods damaged tea gardens in the northeastern state of Assam - which accounts for over half of India's production - where output had already been cut by labour movement restrictions to contain the coronavirus outbreak.

According to data compiled by the Tea Board, lower output lifted average tea prices in 2020 by 31% from a year ago to a record 184.69 rupees ($2.53) a kg. India, the world's second-biggest tea producer, exports CTC (crush-tear-curl) grade mainly to Egypt and Britain, with the orthodox variety shipped to Iraq, Iran and Russia.

Secretary at Indian Tea Association said in the last few months, the key tea producing north-eastern part of the country has received good rainfall and that would lead to higher output in 2021. He said ‘we are expecting better quality crop this year. Our exports are also expected to rise as key importing countries are recovering from COVID-19 that limited their purchases last year’.

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