Tea export earnings high.05.12.2009-itn news Sri Lanka

Sri Lankas tea export earnings in October hit a record high. Average auction prices this year were much higher than in the last two years.

Brokers said prices at this weeks Colombo auctions fell sharply owing to lower quality and less demand although a global tea shortage is likely to keep prices buoyant in the short term.

Brokers also said the rupee value of exports in October 2009 is the highest ever at 13.3 billion rupees, 17 percent more than the previous high of 11.6 billion rupees earned in 2008.
The approximate US Dollar value of earnings for the January-October 2009 period was 963 million, 12 percent lower than in the same 2008 period. But brokers said average prices at the Colombo auctions have stayed much higher than in the last two years. This was mainly due to a global shortage caused by production shortfalls in key producing countries.

At the sale in the last week of November, the average price was 3.37 Dollars a kilo compared with 2.03 Dollars at the same sale in 2008 and 2.88 Dollars a kilo in 2007.

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