Kenyan tea production up marginally

Kenya's tea production ticked higher in calendar year 2003 to 293.7 million kg from 287.1 million in 2002, the tea board said on Thursday.
"Favourable weather, especially in the last half of the year, is largely the reason the crop production exceeded the board's forecast for the year," The Tea Board of Kenya (TBK) said in a statement.
The board had predicted 2003 output of 290 million kg. Kenya, the world's third biggest producer of black tea after India and Sri Lanka, produced 294.6 million kg of tea in 2001.
The board said production was also lifted by an expansion of processing capacity to reduce wastage. "Eight more factories have been licensed out of which six have since been commissioned," the board said.
The board said a decision by authorities to support the application of sulphur-free fertiliser had improved yields among smallholders.
According to provisional statistics, total tea exports in 2003 dropped to 269.3 million kg from 272.5 million in 2002.
Tea, Kenya's leading export earner, brought in an equivalent of 34.3 billion Kenya shillings ($448.1 million) in foreign exchange, little changed from the previous year.
Pakistan remained Kenya's leading tea export market after it increased the volume of imported from Kenya by 8.8 million kg in 2003 to a total of 72 million.
The Kenyan tea industry has expressed concerns that improving relations between India and Pakistan could lead to an increase in tea exports to Pakistan from India, squeezing Kenya's market share. Britain and Egypt were ranked second and third buyers respectively, with Afghanistan, Russia, Nigeria and Germany listed as the fastest growing markets.
The board said a campaign to promote tea at home had expanded the domestic market by 14 percent to 14.4 million kg last year.
The campaign launched in October 2002 is aimed at young people, promoting tea as a healthy drink.
Meanwhile, prices were firmer at this week's auction on high volume with buyers stocking up on the good teas on offer, traders said on Wednesday.
The rise in volumes was attributed to a huge harvest in the last weeks of 2003.
"It is not real (increase in) volume, just a carry over from the Christmas break," an official of the East Africa Tea Traders Association said.
The auction usually breaks for Christmas, but tea picking continues causing a rise in tea stocks. This volume is spread out over the initial auctions at the start of the year.
"Pakistan Blenders were a strong feature and there was good enquiry from Afghanistan and some interest from the Pakistani Bazaar," the ATB said adding that demand from the United Kingdom was conspicuously stronger.