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

21 November 2023

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.