NAIROBI: Kenya's tea exports rose slightly in the first six months of the year, while average prices at the auction dipped and output was steady, the Tea Board of Kenya said on Wednesday.
The east African country exported 250 million kg in January to June, from 246.7 million kg in the same period last year. Output for dipped 0.2 percent to 225.2 million kg, the regulator said in a statement.
Kenya is the world's leading exporter of black tea, a leading hard currency earner alongside tourism, remittances and horticulture.
The Tea Board said cumulative average prices at the Mombasa -based auction in January to June was $2.24 per kg, down from $2.80 per kg in the first six months of last year.
"However, as recorded towards the end of June, recovery in prices is expected owing to a gradual decrease in production as the cold season progresses," it said.
The board said the country's leading buyers during the period were Egypt and Pakistan. Sales to the United Kingdom and Afghanistan slowed.
It said emerging markets in the United Arab Emirates, Russia, Yemen, Kazakhstan and Somalia accounted for 27 percent of exports.
"This ... will gradually reduce over reliance on traditional markets and may subsequently lead to better price realisation," the board said.
The board said the amount of tea consumed locally for the first six months of the year rose to 16.9 million kg from 12.2 million kg in the same period of 2013.
For the whole of 2013, earnings rose 2 percent to 114.4 billion shillings ($1.3 billion), while total output jumped 17 percent to a record 432.4 million kg.
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