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Kenya's tea production drops as prices remain steady

Xinhua, June 10, 2015 Adjust font size:

Kenya green leaf production decreased in April following prolonged dry weather experienced early in the year.

Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) which manages the smallholder tea sector in Kenya, said on Wednesday that green leaf production dropped by 30 percent to 78.59 million kilograms from 112.33 million kilograms produced the same period last year. And a higher decline of 58 percent was experienced in March.

KTDA CEO Lerionka Tiampati said the quantities of green leaf produced are likely to shrink further in June as the cold season sets in and pruning begins.

"The month of June usually marks the onset of the cold season ahead of July when smallholder tea farmers take advantage of the season to prune up to 30 percent of their tea bushes for increased productivity," Tiampati said.

The Kenya Meteorological Service forecasts indicate that the cold season will set in mid-June and stretch throughout July.

The anticipated cold weather conditions combined with pruning is likely to affect tea production, further reducing the volumes of tea on offer.

"We therefore do not anticipate increased production during this period even with increased rains," Tiampati said in Nairobi.

This means that tea prices at the Mombasa Tea Auction, an online market place selling and buying tea across Kenya, are likely to remain steady as lower volumes of tea flow into the market. Tea prices at the Mombasa Tea Auction have largely remained steady for several weeks with a kilo of made-tea fetching above 3 U.S. dollars.

The Managing Director of the East African Tea Trade Association (EATTA), Edward Mudibo, said the market remained responsive to the forces of demand and supply in May and partly in April, and this may extend to June and July.

He said there were dwindling supplies of tea reported at the auction in April and May compared to volumes supplied to the auction same period last year.

Kenya is the leading exporter of Cut, Tear and Curl (CTC) tea in the world, exporting 499 million kilograms of tea in 2014.

Overall, tea production declined by 9 percent to 849.44 million kilograms between July 2014 and April this year from the 933.24 million kilograms realized the previous year.

Going by the production trends, coupled by depressed long rains, the Tea Board of Kenya expects lower production for the rest of the year. Endi