Industry report from Tea Directorate for May indicates there was a decline in quantities imported by major buyers.
The United Kingdom, a major buyer of the Kenyan beverage registered a 51 per cent drop compared with last year.
Key export destinations for Kenyan tea were the United Arab Emirates, which recorded seven per cent drop, and Sudan that saw the volumes come down by 61 per cent.
Kenya’s tea export to major destinations registered a major decline in volume, even as the country continued over relying on traditional buyers that account for more than 85 per cent of the country’s market.
Industry report from Tea Directorate for May indicates there was a decline in quantities imported by major buyers, except for Pakistan, compared with the same period last year, partly driven by low production.
Egypt, which is the second largest buyer of Kenya’s tea, registered a 61 per cent fall to 3.5 million kilogrammes in May this year from 9.2 million kilogrammes in the corresponding period.
“The total export volume for May was 28.05 million kilogrammes compared with 43.36 million kilogrammes recorded in the same period last year, representing a 35 per cent decrease,” says the report.
“The Pakistan market recorded higher tea imports from Kenya while other markets recorded lower imports,” the report adds.
The United Kingdom, a major buyer of the Kenyan beverage registered a 51 per cent drop compared with last year.
The quantities imported dropped from 4.1 million kilogrammes to two million kilogrammes in May.
Pakistan was the leading export destination for Kenyan tea having imported 11.36 million kilogrammes during the month, accounting for 40 per cent of the total export volume.
The ten export destinations, most of which are traditional markets for Kenyan tea accounted for 86 per cent of Kenya tea export volume.
During the month, Kenya tea was shipped to 39 export destinations compared with 45 destinations last year.
Key export destinations for Kenyan tea were the United Arab Emirates, which recorded seven per cent drop, and Sudan that saw the volumes come down by 61 per cent.
The directorate is now scouting for new markets given that most of these traditional buyers such as Egypt, Pakistan, Sudan, Afghanistan and Yemen are undergoing political instability.
The directorate has been banking on emerging markets to increase the sales. Amongst the developing markets that recorded significantly higher tea imports from Kenya are Oman, Jordan, Japan, Djibouti, Hong Kong, Myanmar and Singapore.
The total export volume for the period January-May 2017 was 174.54 million kilogrammes compared with 213.77 million kilogrammes recorded same period last year.
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