Kenya exports 103m kilos of tea in 3 months

Tea farmers collect fertilizers distributed by Kenya Tea Development Authority(KTDA) at Nyambaria Tea Buying Center in Nyamira County. (Sammy Omingo, Standard)

More than 102.92 million kilogrammes (kgs) of tea have been sold to 58 global markets between January and March this year through the Mombasa Tea Auction. Tea Board of Kenya (TBK) latest report said KTDA factories, independent producers and estates produced 37.9 million kgs, compared to 54.3 million in the previous year.

The KTDA smallholder factories managed 20.4 million kgs and Nyayo Tea Zones 321,754 kgs.

TBK Chief Executive Willy Mutai said the 10 best markets accounted for 78.9 per cent of the export volume, which included Jordan, Oman, Kazakhstan and China.

The quality of tea production by the KTDA factories was also higher compared to other producers. “Demand for Kenya’s tea, in the three months, continued to be impacted negatively by the Ukraine-Russia crisis, and attack of vessels along the Red Sea route by the rebels and market access challenges in Sudan,” he said.

The report shows that Pakistan bought 17.4 million kgs, controlling 36.9 per cent of the production, followed by Egypt 5.85 million kgs, the UK 3.01 million kgs, UAE 6.4 million kgs, among others. Exports to Djibouti were 152,200 kgs compared to last year’s 27,040 kgs, while exports to Ukraine reduced to 289,472 kgs compared to the previous year of 440,560 kgs.

Through dealers, Russia bought 2.03 million kgs compared to the previous year’s 2.17 million kgs. Between January and March, 75 dealers participated in the auction, with tea from six countries accounting for 126.73 million kgs.

Kenya traded 103.88 million kgs, Uganda 13.67 million kgs, Tanzania 1.19 million kgs, Rwanda 7.58 million kgs, Burundi 401,109 kgs and Mozambique 43,329 kgs.