Regional tea exports drop
A farmer plucks tea leaves from a garden. Monitor Photo
What you need to know:
About 8.5 million kilogrammes bags were offered down from the 9.5 million kilogramme bags the previous year. The region’s output indicated an 11 per cent decline in the total tea offered on the market, Dorothy Nakaweesi writes.
East Africa’s cumulative tea exports at the Mombasa auction recorded a 16 per cent decline, the latest report has shown.
According to the auction which was carried out on May 22nd and 23rd , the region exported a total of 7.7 million kilogramme bags of tea, down from 9 million kilogramme bags it exported the same time last year.
According to the report from the East African Tea Export Auctions, a total of 8.5 million kilogrammes bags were offered down from the 9.5 million kilogramme bags offered the previous year.
The region’s output indicated an 11 per cent decline in the total tea offered on the market by the nine players’ mainly-Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, DR Congo, Malawi, Madagascar and Mozambique.
Kenya, the region’s leading producer, exported a total of 5.8 million bags down from 7.5 million it sold last year around the same period thus indicating a 29 per cent decline.
Commenting about this performance, the executive secretary of Uganda Tea Association (UTA), Mr George William Ssekitooleko, said: “Kenya being the major player in the region when its offer declines, this will translate into the total sales.”
Performance
However, the report showed that Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania and Mozambique registered an increase in their sales compared to what they exported last year around the same period.
“Tanzania recorded a 79 per cent increase from the 56,000 kilogrammes it exported last year to this year’s 276,000 kilogrammes bags recorded,” the report showed.
Uganda came second when it exported 944,000 kilogramme bags up from 846,000 million bags it exported last year thus indicating a 9 per cent increase in exports.
Rwanda exported a total of 421,000 kilogrammes up from 385,000 kilogramme bags it exported last year.
Burundi posted a total of 199,000 kilogramme bags up from 189,000 kilogramme bags it exported last year.
Revenue
In 2016, according to UTA, the country’s revenue earnings were pegged at $80 million (Shs288 billion).
In 2015, Uganda exported 55 million kilogrammes, earning the country Shs$76 million (Shs273 billion).
