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| Global tea output crosses 3.2 mn mark |
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World tea production continued to reach new highs with output growing by 2 per cent to an estimated 3.2 million tonnes in 2004, offsetting the decline in yield in major producing countries like India and Bangladesh, an FAO report says. The report, prepared ahead of the two-day Intergovernmental Group on Tea meeting in Bali from July 20 to review the current world tea market and output, said the expansion in production was due mainly to the increases recorded in Turkey, China, Kenya, Malawi, Sri Lanka and Indonesia. In China, tea output for 2004 approached the 800,000 tonnes milestone as policy initiatives to promote production and trade of tea began to have an impact on the sector, said the report. In Sri Lanka, production increased slightly by 1.3 percent to 309,000 tonnes in 2004, reflecting the recovery from crop losses after devastating floods in low grown tea areas of the island in 2003. In Indonesia, where a 1.2 percent growth was recorded, output reached 170,000 tonnes in 2004 and in Turkey, production was reported to have expanded dramatically last year by 32 per cent to reach around 205,500 tonnes. Tea production in Kenya increased by more than 11 per cent in 2004 to reach 328,000 tonnes, as a result of favourable weather in most of the growing regions and the expansion in processing capacity. Malawi also reported a significant increase of 19 per cent in tea production with output reaching 50,000 tonnes. In India, tea production declined by 4.3 per cent to reach around 820,200 tonnes due to unfavourable weather conditions and the closure of up to 70 tea gardens in Assam. World tea exports increased by 4.4 per cent in 2004 to reach 1.47 million tonnes, as shipments from all major exporting countries increased during the year. Kenya was the largest exporter, once more surpassing Sri Lanka. The 8.9 per cent increase in exports from Kenya brought total shipments for the year to almost 293,000 tonnes. A similar increase (8.9 per cent) was also recorded by Indonesia. Tea exports from China expanded by more than seven per cent to reach 282,000 tonnes, and were dominated by green tea, which accounted for more than 75 percent of its total exports. World net tea imports continued to increase in 2004, by 1.5 per cent, reaching 1.42 million tonnes with EU by 24 per cent, USA by 5.3 per cent and Japan 2 per cent. In 2004, tea prices opened at US$ 1.56 per kg in January and closed at US$1.73 per kg in December, reflecting an improvement on the demand side, according to FAO. However, between 1993-1995 and 2001-2003, out of 27 agricultural commodities, tea showed the second lowest variability in prices: 2 per cent decline compared to 39 per cent for cocoa and 38 per cent for coffee. New Delhi, July 17.(UNI) |
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