Regardless of being the world’s largest producer of black tea behind China, India noticed a surge in ‘low-cost teas’ imports from Kenya, Nepal and other countries, amounting to 12.16 million kg of imports within the first six months of 2021. It exceeds the total imports of 15.86 million kg in 2019, reported Economic Times.
The imports shot up 176% year-on-year. In the first two quarters of 2020, the country imported 4.41 million kg of tea.
The Imported teas are meant for re-exports, but a significant portion of those imported teas are being mixed with Indian teas and are circulated in the domestic market at cheaper rates, as per business insiders.
The Indian Tea Association (ITA) has urged the federal government to introduce a minimal import value for teas coming into India.
“Import of Kenyan tea climbed to five.02 million kg within the first six months of 2021, compared with 1.49 million kg in the identical interval of earlier 12 months. This can be a vital rise,” said Sujit Patra, secretary, ITA, to ET.
He added, “As Kenyan costs are hovering around $1.7 per kg as in comparison with India’s value of $2.5 per kg, the commerce could have purchased extra volumes of Kenyan tea this 12 months for re-export functions. The same pattern has been observed within the case of teas coming from Nepal, which is duty-free.”
Within the first six months, India produced 622.86 million kg of teas, whereas 442.08 million kg were produced in the past 12 months.
The producers’ body has urged that the minimal residue limits set by the Meals Security and Requirements Authority of India should be considered and adhered to.
“A couple of NABL (Nationwide Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories) laboratories could also be earmarked for the aim,” mentioned Patra.
Given the unusually low import prices of a large number of teas, a minimum import value should be considered to ensure that teas are imported at a price that is higher than the cost of manufacturing Indian teas, as required by the ITA.