Sri Lanka tea exports up in April 2018, Low grown production down

May 24, 2018 (LBO) - Sri Lanka's tea exports for the month of April 2018 showed a gain of 0.7M/kgs when compared with the same period last year while bulk tea and tea bags show a marginal decrease, a new report shows. "When analyzing the total revenue realized of 17.1 billion rupees for April 2018, a gain of 0.6 billion rupees is recorded vis-à-vis 16.5 billion rupees of April 2017," Forbes & Walker Tea Brokers said in their latest report. "However, the total FOB value for April 2018 of 819.82 rupees has shown a decrease of 3.01 rupees vis-à-vis 822.83 rupees of April 2017." Meanwhile,  Sri Lanka's tea production for the month of April 2018 totalled 27.9M/kgs vis-à-vis 32.9M/kgs of April 2017 showing a deficit of 5.0M/kgs. All elevations have shown a decrease YOY with low growns showing the highest decline. The full report follows:  SRI LANKA TEA EXPORTS - APRIL 2018 Sri Lanka Tea Exports for the month of April 2018 totalled 20.8M/kgs vis-à-vis 20.1M/kgs of April 2017 showing a gain of 0.7M/kgs. Packeted tea has shown a growth YOY whilst bulk tea and tea bags show a marginal decrease compared to the corresponding month of 2017. When analyzing the total revenue realized of Rs.17.1B for April 2018, a gain of Rs.0.6B is recorded vis-à-vis Rs.16.5B of April 2017. However, the total FOB value for April 2018 of Rs.819.82 has shown a decrease of Rs.3.01 vis-à-vis Rs.822.83 of April 2017. January - April 2018 cumulative exports totalled 89.7M/kgs vis-à-vis 88.5M/kgs of January - April 2017 thus showing a gain of 1.2M/kgs. On a cumulative basis packeted tea and bulk tea have shown a growth YOY whilst tea bags have shown a marginal decrease. Total revenue too for the period January - April 2018 of Rs.74.1B have shown an increase of Rs.4.9B vis-à-vis Rs.69.2B of January - April 2017. Consequently, the FOB value too of Rs.826.44 has shown a growth of Rs.44.53 vis-à-vis Rs.781.91 of January - April 2017.  (As detailed in page no.08) Iraq has occupied the no.01 position for the period January - April 2018, closely followed by Turkey and Russia. Iran, UAE, Syria, China and Azerbaijan are the other noteworthy importers of Sri Lankan tea. Meanwhile, destinations such as Libya, Ukraine have shown a considerable decline in imports during the period under review. (As detailed in page no.09) SRI LANKA TEA PRODUCTION - APRIL 2018 - DOWN 5.03M/KGS YOY! Sri Lanka Tea Production for the month of April 2018 totalled 27.9M/kgs vis-à-vis 32.9M/kgs of April 2017 showing a deficit of 5.0M/kgs. All elevations have shown a decrease YOY with Low Growns showing the highest decline. When analyzing January - April 2018 cumulative production of 102.2M/kgs, a gain of 2.4M/kgs was recorded vis-à-vis 99.8M/kgs of January - April 2017. On a cumulative basis, all elevations have shown a growth YOY.  CTC production for April 2018 of 2.1M/kgs show a marginal decrease compared to 2.2M/kgs of April 2017. High Grown and Medium Grown production have shown a growth YOY whilst Low Growns show a significant decrease. On a cumulative basis, January - April 2018 CTC production of 8.0M/kgs show a gain of 1.3M/kgs vis-à-vis 6.7M/kgs of January - April 2017. Here again High and Medium Grown elevations have shown a growth YOY whilst Low Growns show a decrease.