Sept tea output lowest in 17 years after drought

COLOMBO (REUTERS) - Sri Lanka’s September tea output fell to its lowest level for the month since 2001, industry data showed on Thursday and the State-run Tea Board warned of adverse weather conditions for the fall after a prolonged drought.

Monthly output fell for the fourth straight month, declining 24.9 percent in September to 19.3 million kg. Production in the first nine months of 2018 has fallen 4 percent from the same period last year. “The fall is mainly due to the drought,” Sri Lanka Tea Board Directorgeneral S.A. Siriwardena told Reuters. “But we saw some rain during the last few weeks which will improve production.”

Siriwardena expects full-year production to reach 310 million kg. The Tea Board in August said it may have to downgrade its full-year forecast for tea production after output tumbled 14 percent in that month from a year earlier due to the drought.

Tea is Sri Lanka’s top agricultural export and one of the main foreign currency earners for the US$87 billion economy.

Earnings from tea exports for the first seven months fell 2 percent to US$854.2 million, compared with the same period last year. Sri Lanka’s tea output rose 5 percent to 307.1 million kg last year, recovering from a seven-year low of 292.6 million kg in 2016.

Tea production in 2017 was affected by severe drought followed by flooding and poor application of fertilisers, while a government ban on pesticides and restricted labour added to the sector’s problems.