Sri Lanka tea output up in May

June 23, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s tea production in May 2010 rose 12.9 percent to almost 30.3 million kilos as production continued to recover from a downturn the year before, Tea Board data showed.
Tea production in the five months to May was up by 25 percent to 134.2 million kilos from the previous year.

The island’s production of black tea plunged in 2009 when the industry was affected by the effects of drought and the global commodities crash in late 2008 when growers cut back on cultivation after prices plunged.

But this year is better and the Tea Board has forecast annual tea production to exceed 300 million kilos after output fell to 290 million kilos in 2009.

The annual production in 2008 hit a record high of 218 million kilos.

source - www.lbo.lk