India's tea imports dip 22% to 16 mn kg

India's tea imports during the January-October period of 2010 dipped 22 per cent to 16.03 million kg, according to Indian Tea Association.

The country had imported 20.55 million kg tea during the January-October period of the previous year.

India, the world's-largest consumer of the beverage, imports tea only to re-export to other countries. The dip in imports thus signals less re-exports.

According to the association, imports from Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Kenya and Argentina declined during the period vis-a-vis the same period of the previous year. 

Imports dipped to 0.99 million kg from Indonesia from 2.46 million kg during the year-ago period. It came down to 0.28 million kg from Sri Lanka from 0.93 million kg.

The decline was stiffest from Vietnam during the period to 2.16 million kg from 4.78 million kg in the January-October period of 2009.

Shipments from Kenya and Argentina to India also dipped to 2.19 million kg and 0.34 million kg from 2.29 million kg and 0.65 million kg respectively.

Imports, however, rose from Nepal and Iran during the period to 6.7 million kg and 1.18 million kg from 6.36 million kg and 0.54 million kg, respectively, during the January-October of 2009.

India, the second-biggest producer of tea in the world, accounts for about 28 per cent of global tea production and 14 per cent of trade.

There are about 1,600 tea estates in India. The industry employs more than two million people.