Tea exports down 4 per cent in January-March quarter

NEW DELHI: Tea exports from India fell by 4 per cent to 43.84 million kg in the first quarter of the current calender year on account of drop in outbound shipments of the brew from South India, latest Tea Board data said.

The country had shipped 45.76 million kg of tea in the January-March period of 2011 calender year.

Shipments of the brew from South India declined by 17 per cent to 14.43 million kg in January-March 2012 from 17.42 million kg in the year-ago period.

Exports from North India, however, rose by 4 per cent to 29.41 million kg as against 28.34 million kg in the review period.

In the 2011-12 fiscal, tea exports fell by 11 per cent to 190.95 million kg as compared to 213.79 million kg in the 2010-11 financial year.

In the last calender year, tea shipments declined by 13 per cent to 192.87 million kg from 222.02 million kg in 2010.

India, the world's second-largest producer and the biggest consumer of tea, exports the brew to Middle Eastern countries, the US and the EU.