Demand for high grown tea in CIS countries

Hiran H. SENEWIRATNE

TEA: Sri Lanka should increase the high grown quality tea production which has a massive demand in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) including Russia and Ukraine industry sources said.

At present our main tea exports go to CIS States followed by Syria, Turkey and United Arab Emirates (UAE). Out of the total tea exports which is 320 million killogrammes CIS including Russia and Ukraine purchase a considerable quantity, General Manager - May Company Ceylon (Pvt) Limited (MCCL) Sudath Lansakkara told the Daily News.

Russian based MCCL is the number one Sri Lankan tea buyer and the number two tea importer for that region. It has new proposed to increase the purchase of quality tea from Sri Lanka, he said.

The company processes 15 million killogrammes for a year could increase their export if the country produces high quality tea, he said. The company is the main intermediary and purchases tea from the tea auction. He said that Sri Lanka crop is about 320 million killogrammes out of which the company exports more than 15 million killogrammes to CIS countries.

?We are experiencing demand for better made tea from all over the world and as such the need arises from the very nursery level where the quality plant should be germinated. The total tea demand for CIS region is 65 million killogrammes per year and MCCL processes more than 10-15 million killogrammes, he said.

Kenya is the number one tea exporter to CIS countries and overtook Sri Lanka last year due to the shortfall of high grown quality tea production in the recent past, he said. The current drought condition in Kenya, would be an excellent opportunity for Sri Lanka to gain lost market share in the region, he said.

Lansakkara said that Russia and other CIS countries are one of the growing markets especially where the high grown quality tea is concerned which has the ability to double their exports if the country produces quality tea.

He said that Sri Lanka has the advantage over Kenya due to the lower prices which has a good opening for Sri Lanka to export more tea to that region.The manufacturing under CTC methods gives quick brew and as such the need to convert a few more factories to have parallel lines of production along with orthodox method to meet the demand.

?Out of the total tea production in the country little more than 92 per cent is orthodox manufacture while about six per cent is CTC and the balance one per cent is green tea manufacture.

The local consumption is nearly 20 million killogrammes, Lansakkara said.

Most of the European countries insist on ISO/HACCP certification for teas at production and manufacturing levels and also at the production level in the exporter warehouses.

As it is, some of the producers find it difficult to make ends meet. They need to be supported to upgrade their field and factories to produce teas meeting the world demand.

The tax reduction on the VAT payment of producers should be used for the uplift of the industry to reach these current requirements. If not, loan facilities or grants should be organised through the Government or banks, he said.