Sri Lanka to participate in Hong Kong Tea Fair

The inaugural Hong Kong International Tea Fair will take place from August 13-15 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. The fair which will be held parallel to the annual Food Expo has been organized by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) and the Chinese Tea Culture International Exchange Association.

Sales Manager of HKTDC, Josephine Lam said, "With this tea market potential, the tea fair is set to hit the target and facilitate international tea trade. The fair is a natural spin-off of the Food Expo.

Both fairs reflect Hong Kong's role as Asia's culinary capital, and the tea fair responds to the popularity of our tea exhibits at the food fair over the years. Buyers from all over the world attend the Food Expo for quality food and health products, and I believe the two fairs will complement each other well."

Sri Lanka is an important player in tea production and tea export. It ranked as the world's fourth-largest tea producing and the biggest tea exporting country, holding 8 percent and 20 percent of the global tea market in 2006.

The majority of Ceylon tea is exported to the Gulf/Middle East and Russia/CIS countries including the United Arab Emirates, Russia and Iran. In terms of domestic consumption, the average domestic tea consumption in Sri Lanka was recorded at 1.27kg per capita per year in 2004.

Sri Lanka was the 48th trading partner of Hong Kong in 2008 and tea has been the top import from Sri Lanka to Hong Kong for years. In 2008, Hong Kong imported tea from Sri Lanka valued at US $ 16 million, an increase of 20 percent compared to 2007.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, tea production reached 3.87 million tonnes in 2007.

China is the world's largest tea-producing country, followed by India, Kenya, Sri Lanka and Indonesia.

The five countries accounted for 77 percent of the global export of tea in 2006. The major tea importers include Russia, UK, Pakistan and Egypt which together accounted for more than 40 percent of tea imports in 2006. Hong Kong has the highest tea consumption among Asian cities, and ranks ninth in the world in per capita tea consumption.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations also projects an upward trend of the black tea production and export in 2010.

The global production of black tea is estimated to reach 2.4 million tonnes from 2.15 million tonnes in 2000.

By growing at an annual rate of 1.1 percent the black tea export will meet 1.14 million tonnes in 2010. Sri Lanka, a major black tea producer, is expected to increase production at an annual rate of 0.7 percent to reach 329,000 tonnes of black tea by 2010.

With increased production, the black tea export is expected to grow at an annual rate of 0.4 percent to 293,400 tonnes by 2010. Likewise, domestic consumption in Sri Lanka is expected to grow to 36,000 tonnes by 2010.

The tea fair will showcase a variety of tea, processed tea and tea products, tea packaging, processing equipment and testing services, teaware and the latest tea technology from all over the world.

It will also host tea bars, tea organizations, services and publications, bringing exhibitors and buyers together from all over the region to explore business opportunities.