Kenyan tea exports between January and August slumped 11.6 percent by volume versus the same period last year, officials said on Monday, but earnings rose 13 percent to 43.1 billion shillings ($576.5 million). Kenya's tea board said it expected overall earnings for 2009 up 6 percent at 66 billion shillings versus the previous year.
"Owing to improved prices, coupled with a favourable exchange rate for the Kenya shilling against the dollar, the total tea export earnings for the period were higher," the tea board's managing director, Sicily Kariuki, told reporters.
Kenya's weekly tea auction in Mombasa has achieved higher prices this year as buyers stock up over fears that drought will hit production in the world's biggest black tea exporter.
News of expected above-normal rainfall in the wet season due to start next month have failed to dampen prices. Last week, average Best BP1s hit $4.20 per kg, up from the previous record of $4.16 reached a week earlier. The Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) forecast last week that local tea prices were likely to stay high over the next 12 months because of a global deficit of 110 million kg due to dry weather in producing countries.
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