Export earnings from Sri Lankan tea sales may hit a new record high on better global prices coupled with high production, the island nation's tea board said on Thursday. Tea output in the first seven months of 2010 has risen 23.4 percent to 195.1 million kg against 158.1 million a year ago. In July, output rose 2.1 percent to 26.4 million kg from 25.9 million kg in July 2009, the board data showed.
"End of this year, we expect the earnings to pass $1.3 billion," H.D. Hemarathne, director-general of the Sri Lanka Tea Board, told Reuters. Export revenue from tea has risen 26.1 percent to $505.1 million form the first five months of this year, the latest central bank data showed. Sri Lanka's peak annual earnings of $1.27 billion from the country's No 1 agricultural commodity were reached in 2008. But last year, earnings dropped to $1.2 billion.
In July, the board also said the country's tea production may hit a record high. Output hit a record high of 318.7 million kg in 2008, but fell 9 percent to 289.8 million kg last year on adverse weather conditions and lack of fertiliser, along with a labour strike.
Favourable weather conditions, better fertiliser application, and good agricultural practices have helped boost production amid better export prices, Hemarathne said. Tea is one of the $42-billion economy's main foreign currency earners, along with remittances, textile and garment exports and tourism.