Kenyan tea gains over India in battle for Asia
Tea pickers at Nandi Tea Estate Limited in Nandi Hills pluck tea leaves.
What you need to know:
- The India Tea Association Secretary Sujit Patra said the Indian tea was losing ground to rivals like Kenya on the price front.
- Kenya is one of the largest tea exporters, accounting for 22 percent of total exports, according to World Stop Exports, a data aggregator on global tea sales.
- Kenyan tea is currently priced at $1.8 (Sh194.89 ) a kilo.
Kenyan tea exporters are reaping from the ongoing political tussle between India and Pakistan.
Indian officials are wary of losing market to Kenya after their commodity lost estimated 20 million kilos worth of tea demand in Pakistan in the last year due to deteriorating bilateral relations.
Last week, the India Tea Association Secretary Sujit Patra said the Indian tea was losing ground to rivals like Kenya on the price front.
The State-affiliated board, in an official statement, said that Covid-19 movement restrictions and heavy flooding had curbed local output in main production areas like Assam and West Bengal, which account for more than half of India’s production.
“Tea companies have lost almost half their output,” the official told the Nation.
Kenya is one of the largest tea exporters, accounting for 22 percent of total exports, according to World Stop Exports, a data aggregator on global tea sales.
Pricing
It had exported 93 million kilos in the fist five months, more than it did in the same period last year.”
Mr Patra said that India’s tea exports in the period fell 26.6 percent from last year ago to 74.40 million kilos.
Kenyan tea is currently priced at $1.8 (Sh194.89 ) a kilo. Vietnamese tea is even lower at $1.5 (Sh162.4) a kilo.
In January 2019, Pakistan bought Sh3.5 billion tea, cementing its position as Kenya’s top tea buyer.
Other key destinations were Egypt (11.07 million kg), UK (5.82 million kg), UAE (2.79 million kg) Russia (1.84 million kg), Sudan (1.44 million kg), Yemen (1.12 million kg), Saudi Arabia (0.78 million kg), Switzerland (0.77 million kg) and Afghanistan (0.75 million kg).
“Importers in the UK, Egypt and the Middle East may switch to Kenya,” said Mr Azam Monem, the director at McLeod Russel India, one of India’s biggest growers during an interview.
Last week Kenyan tea worth Sh14 billion was stuck in warehouses as a result of global lockdowns due to Covid-19.
“This is tea in our warehouses and will be sold,” Mr Benson Ngari, KTDA finance and strategy director said, assuring that it will be exported once the market opens fully.
