Sri Lanka is set to start bartering tea to Iran next month in lieu of $250 million owed for oil, a Sri Lankan official told Reuters on Friday, as the crisis-hit country tries to lift sales to a key market and protect its forex reserves.

The sharp increase in lending rates is a major cost to the industry

We must first set ensure that politics is led by economics and science, and not the other way around.

Promises inputs amid soft-peg crisis

The South Asian region is deeply divided in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

It is necessary that the policymakers do not make the mistake of not listening to the experts in the industry

Reuters: Sri Lanka now expects 2012 tea production of around 325 million kg, below its target of 330 million kg, as output has fallen in the last five months due to drought, the State-run Tea Board said. Tea production in the first half of the year fell 4.3 per cent year-on-year to 163.26 million kg ...

By Cheranka Mendis The volatility in Middle Eastern markets, coupled with the increasing issue of low quality due to competition and increasing costs, has placed the local tea industry in a big fix, which could, if unattended, immediately mark the end of a Sri Lankan legacy in four to five years. Despite Sri Lankan tea ...

Reuters: Sri Lanka's tea production edged down 0.6 percent in February due to high base in the same month last year, the state-run tea board said on Wednesday. Sri Lanka's February tea output was 21.98 million kg compared to 22.13 million kg in February 2011. The production in the first two months has increased 4.7 ...

Industry calls for higher productivity, new market development to ride out uncertainties Tea industry stakeholders say the industry needs to urgently improve productivity and generate new markets, as volatility in major Middle Eastern markets continue to dampen tea export earnings.   While there is strong demand for tea in global markets, price increases for Ceylon ...

By Elmo Leonard Sri Lanka’s mid-February dual hike of diesel by 37 percent and electricity for industry by 15 percent sent shock waves through the gamut of the island’s tea industry. As Sri Lanka celebrates 145 years of commercial tea plantations this year, the government’s boast is that the industry sustains 2 million of its population, directly and indirectly. The brag was echoed by Minister of ...

Thousands of jobs at risk By Indika Sri Aravinda The  tea industry, the country’s second largest net foreign exchange earner is facing a potential crisis as a result of the economic sanctions imposed on Iran by the US government, the Sri Lanka Tea Board said. Tea Board Chairperson Janaki Kuruppu

Reuters: Sri Lanka’s tea production rose a slight six per cent in January compared to the same month a year ago, when output was especially low, the State-run Tea Board said on Tuesday. January tea output was 22.41 million kg compared to 21.14 million kg in January 2011. “This is the normal output. The increase ...

The Sri Lanka Tea Board, the apex authority of the tea industry in Sri Lanka, will be hosting the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) 20th Session of the Inter-Governmental Group (IGG) on tea from 30 January to 1 February 2012 in Colombo. At the 19th session

In the backdrop of the uncertain conditions that exists in some of Sri Lanka’s key tea exports destinations, attempting to analyse market prospects could have a strong element of ‘crystal ball’ gazing. Nevertheless, a logical approach would be to analyse the past performance of the industry and equate it to supply/demand scenarios that are likely ...