Global black tea production in the current calendar till April has increased by 16.43 per cent over the same period in 2019. “Our compilation of the data received from various producing countries shows that global black tea production till April rose to 343.74 million kg (mkg) from 295.24 mkg last year,” Rajesh Gupta, compiler of the annual Global Tea Digest, told BusinessLine. This increase of 48.50 mkg marked a gain of 16.43 per cent. A substantial increase has come from Kenya. “It has produced 208.22 mkg till April as against 132.41 mkg in Jan-Apr 2019. This increase of 75.81 mkg marked a gain of 57.25 per cent,” Rajesh Gupta pointed out. This has offset the loss in other countries. Sri Lanka produced 73.81 mkg as against 96.57 mkg in Jan-Apr 2019. This marked a loss of 22.76 or 23.57 per cent. Malawi lost 1.62 mkg or 5.66 per cent to produce 26.98 mkg till April. Bangladesh’s output dropped to 4.19 mkg from 8.64 mkg, a loss of 4.45 mkg or as much as 51.50 per cent. “Indian production till February rose to 30.54 mkg from 29.02 mkg in Jan-Feb 2019, marking a gain of 1.52 mkg or 5.24 per cent,” Rajesh Gupta noted.
