A Core Tea Market Has Been Affected And Lowering India’s Global Tea Exports

The Indian tea market is one of the most robust and
vibrant markets in the world, with different varieties of tea plantations.
India’s tea market is in high demand in other parts of the world, making tea a
go-to warm beverage option for all consumers due to quality-rich tea varieties.
However, one of the core tea markets in India is suffering and finding
challenges in gaining stability in production values. While the exports of tea
from India show surging values for the year 2022, taking a closer look at the
export data, India’s tea market needs resourcefulness.

 

India’s Tea
Market — An Overview

 

Being the most vibrant market in the world, Indian tea
comes in different varieties as listed by Tea Board India. India ranks as the
second largest tea-producing country, following China as the top-producing
country with the highest exports of tea in the world among all the top
producers.

 

The exports of India rank as the fourth largest among
all the top tea-exporting countries. However, due to the high consumption of
tea domestically, the exports often vary from its opponents. According to Tea
Board India, India consumes about 80% of the total produced tea.

 

Among the different varieties of tea planted in India,
the two types of tea top the most preferences by consumers. One is Assam tea
and the other is Darjeeling Tea, and the latter tea variety is grown in India’s
second-largest tea plantation area, which is in trouble.

 

India’s Tea Top
Export Destinations

 

The top exporting partners for India’s tea exports in
2022 are—the UAE (21.6%), followed by Russia (12.1%), Iran (11.4%), the USA
(7.4%), the UK (6.1%), Germany (4.6%), Iraq (3.5%), Kazakhstan (2.6%), Poland
(2.3%), and Saudi Arabia (2.3%).

 

 

India’s Tea
Exports—Tracing Trends

 

The yearly exports of tea from India amounted to—$816
million in 2013, $656.2 million in 2014, $674.8 million in 2015, $661.6 million
in 2016, $768.4 million in 2017, $767.7 million in 2018, $813.7 million in
2019, $692 million in 2020, $687.8 million in 2021, and $751 million in 2022.

 

 

India’s Tea
Exports In Recent Time

 

In the recent periods, India’s tea exports registered
total values of tea exports to other countries in the following manner: $227.3
million in Q3-2022, followed by $212.6 million in Q4-2022, $155.8 million in
Q1-2023, and $145.5 million in Q2-2023.

 

The exports of tea from India registered a decline in
the second quarter of 2023 and were the lowest recorded in the whole period
covered to showcase the data. While India’s tea exports increased on a yearly
comparison, but were still not the highest in the last decade.

 

 

The monthly tea exports from India for the ongoing
year of 2023 registered these values: January ($54.5 million), February ($51.6
million), March ($49.6 million), April ($43.3 million), May ($48.5 million),
June ($53.6 million), and July ($59.1 million).

 

Through an inspection of monthly tea exports from
India, the values have surged so far, with fluctuations between January and
July. The month of July, as seen in the data, shows a total value of $59.1
million for the total tea exports from India, which is the highest so far this
year.

 

 

Challenges
Related To Darjeeling Market

 

●      Affected production and
quality due to climate change

●      Wide and frequent protests
from the local communities

●      Indignation of the Indo-Nepal
Trade Treaty made in 2009

●      Safeguarding of the
indigenous traditions and communities

●      Lack of a financial system
and schemes to pay tea planters

●      Illegal infiltration &
selling of Nepal’s grown tea with India’s tea

 

The Indian authorities should look into the matter of
this declining state of Darjeeling tea plantation due to instabilities as soon
as they can with the right implementation and actions taken to protect and
nourish a significant portion of India’s rich and highly demanded tea market.