50.96m kg tea produced in 2007-08 in Bangladesh

BSS, Dhaka
The tea production of the country till May during the 2007-08 year was 50.96 million kg against the target of producing 58.5 million kg in the year.During the 2006-07 fiscal, the total tea output was 55.43 million kg against the target of producing 58 million kg, while the production was 54.92 million kg 2005-06 fiscal, according to the statistics of Bangladesh Tea Board.The export of tea till May of 2007-08 fiscal year was 10.47 million kg worth Taka 954.19 million. The total export during 2006-07 fiscal was 3.74 million kg worth Taka 346.53 million.In May 2008, the total export stood at 121 million kg worth Taka 13.38 million. Of the export 112 million kg of tea was exported to Pakistan earning Taka 12.02 million, while 9 million packets of tea were exported to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) earning Taka 1.37 million.The export of tea was 501 million kg in May 2007 worth Taka 42.87 million. Of these, 463 million kg of loose tea was exported to Pakistan earning Taka 36.86 million, while it was nine million packets of tea worth Taka 1.7 million to Saudi Arabia, 29 million kg of packet tea worth Taka 4.31 million was exported to UAE. Meanwhile, the global production of tea in 2006 was 3,533 million kg with an increase of three percent (104 million kgs) over the previous year's production. The production of tea in China has been increased by 10 percent to 1,028 million kg. There were also visible increases of tea production in India, Turkey, Vietnam and Malawi during the year whilst a marginal decrease in crops was recorded in Sri Lanka, Kenya and Iran. Output in Bangladesh had decreased by 11 percent and in Indonesia down by 10 percent with reports of some plantations switching over to Palm trees. India produced 956 million kg of tea in 2006, while Kenya and Sri Lanka 311 million kg each, Turkey produced 142 million kg, Indonesia 140 million kg, Vietnam 132 million kg, Japan 100 million kg, Argentina 80 million kg and Bangladesh 53 million kg.Total global export of tea in 2006 was 1,572 million kg of which Bangladesh exported only 4.97 million kg. World export volumes hardly increased during the year under review. India, Sri Lanka, Vietnam and Argentina ended the year with higher exports whilst exports from Indonesia, Kenya and Bangladesh dropped. Export from Bangladesh declined about 88 percent from 9.01 million kg in 2005 to 4.79 million kg in 2006 mainly due to increase in internal demand that pushes the local auction prices up. Sri Lanka exported the highest amount of tea, 315 million kg, followed by Kenya 314 million kg, China 287 million kg, India 201 million kg, Vietnam 106 million kg, Indonesia 95 million kg and Argentina 71 million kg. The world consumption of tea is estimated to be 3,437 million Kg in 2006, on the basis that that all tea retained in the producer countries and all tea imported for consumption in the importing countries have been consumed during a year. Among the countries, India has become the highest with total consumption of 771 million kg followed by China consuming 745 million kg and Russian Federation consuming 167 million kg. Bangladesh ranked the 14th in terms of single country with total consumption 45 million kg tea in 2005. Japan had consumed 146 million kg of tea in 2006, while United Kingdom 135 million kg, Turkey 133 million kg, Pakistan 117 million kg, the USA 108 million kg, Egypt 79 million kg, Iraq 66 million kg and Iran 64 million kg.