New Delhi: India has made a small gain in the arrival of tea to the foreign market from Sri Lanka, which is raging in economic and political crisis. At the Kochi tea auction last week, the price of the orthodox variety reached Rs 342 per kg. It also benefited from increased demand from Iran, Iraq, Turkey and other Commonwealth countries.
Apart from South India, the best prices were also recorded at the Kolkata tea auction. Farmers and suppliers are hoping that this benefit from the crisis in Sri Lanka will continue for a long time. 3,80,612 kg of orthodox tea was auctioned last week. 74 percent of this was in demand. 37,000 kg of CTC variety tea was auctioned last week; 89 percent had demand.
The largest markets for Sri Lankan tea as of 2021 were Iraq, Turkey, Russia, UAE and Iran. Of this, 39 percent of India’s tea exports were to Russia, UAE and Iran. These countries and Sri Lanka’s markets are now eyeing Indian tea.