India's tea exports surged by a whopping 53 per cent in volume in July on robust demand created due to low output in Kenya, a major producing country, while output shot up marginally by five per cent.
According to the Tea Board, exports surged to 18.16 million kg in July against 11.88 million kg in the year-ago period, while shipments in the first seven months of this year shot up to 105.56 million kg, compared with 88.86 million kg in the same period last year.
"A shortfall in the largest exporting country—Kenya— have moved buyers towards China and India. Though China outsmarted India with an export of about 151 million kg till June, India's exports, too, have increased significantly," a senior Tea Board official told PTI.
In value terms, tea exports in July have surged by 50 per cent to Rs 213.12 crore from Rs 143.51 crore in the year-ago period. The shipments between January and July rose to Rs 1,096 crore against 910.27 crore in the same period last year.
Similarly, India's tea production, the second largest in the world, shot up to 130.95 million kg in July, compared with 125.08 million kg in the same month last year. Output between January and July increased to 476.63 million kg against 459.79 million kg in the year-ago period.
India is the largest producer of black tea in the world though China remains the top tea producer with an estimated output of 1,094 million kg in 2007 against India's 945 million kg.
Kenya is the third largest tea producer in the world with output pegged at 369.61 million kg in 2007. However, it led the pack of exporters, with an estimated shipments of 345.88 million kg in 2007 due to less domestic consumption. India remained at the fourth position, just behind Kenya, Sri Lanka and China, with the exports touching 179 million kg in the last calendar year.
