TEA EXPORT REVENUE AT $11.9 MILLION

Cumulative export revenue for Tea, one of the country’s foreign currency earners, stood at $11.9 million out of 15.6 million kilogramme of the commodity export, Tea Association of Malawi (Taml) figures have shown.

A breakdown of figures provided by Taml chief executive officer Clement Thindwa shows that the export value has been on the upward spiral since January 2013.

In January, Malawi exported 3.3 million kilogrammes of tea, raising $2.3 million and the export revenue went up $2.5 million in February out of 3.5 million kilogrammes of tea.

In March, the figures show that Malawi sold 4.0 million kg of tea raking in $3.2 million while in April, the exported output jumped to 4.6 million kg raising $3.8 million.

But output from January to May, according to Taml figures, has been fluctuating. In January, output was at 6.0 million kg and dropped to 5.1 million kilogrammes in February and went up again to 6.5 million kilogrammes in March.

In April, output also went down to 5.5 million and eventually slumped to 4.6 million kg in May, a reflection of adverse weather conditions that affected the crop.

But figure from the Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) show that tea sales raked in $8.4 million in revenue as of April 2013, a 24.3 percent drop from $11.1 million same period last year.

The revenue realised is out of 23.3 million kilogrammes (kg) of tea produced, a drop from the previous year’s 26.5 million kilogrammes.

“Tea sales through Limbe Auction market amounted to 1.4 million kilogrammes in April 2013 and were valued at $2.7 million. In April 2012, 1.1 million kilogrammes of tea valued at $1.8 million was sold. The increase in revenue in the review month reflects higher volumes and prices that averaged $1.85 per kilogramme compared to $1.69 per kilogramme in April 2012,” indicates the RBM review.

In 2012, export revenue from tea jumped to K16 billion, a 50 percent increase from the previous year’s K10.7 billion, realised  out of 41.8 million kilogrammes of the commodity exported, down from the previous year’s 44.8 million kg, a drop of seven percent.

In 2011, output dropped 10 percent to 42.4 million kg from the previous year’s 47 million kg, according to the figures, largely due to unfavourable weather conditions particularly in the tea growing districts of Thyolo and Mulanje.

But Thindwa earlier told Business News that the earnings had not gone up in dollar terms as a result of the devaluation of the kwacha in May 2012.

Last year, tea prices remained constant in dollar terms.

Over the past few years, there has been market movement with South Africa (SA) beating UK as the largest export destination for Malawi tea.

But in 2012, figures show that UK bought 14.7 million kg of tea at K6.5 billion, trailed by SA at 13.1 million kg raising K4.8 billion in revenue.

Other major export destinations include Kenya which bought 4.6 million kilogramme of tea at K1.4 billion and USA’s 3.2 million kg raising K1.1 billion.

It is expected that price this year will remain firm largely buoyed by sustained growth in world demand and weak output which will create a deficit in the commodity’s global supply.

Kenya, Sri-Lanka, India and Malawi registered lower output in 2012 due to adverse weather conditions and forecasts indicate that the situation is not likely to improve given that tea plantation areas around the world remain the same while demand continues to rise.

Output for tea has, since record output of 52.5 million kg in 2009, been on the decline. In 2010, output dropped to 51.5 million and slumped again in 2011 to 47 million, but the hectarage has remained constant.