KTDA annual production has hit a record high amid reduced global prices. Production of Tea (Green leaf) by factories associated with Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) Holdings’ grew by 28.5% for the year ended 30th June 2020 to stand at 1.448 billion kgs as compared to 1.127 billion kgs over a similar period last year.
This growth has been attributed to improved crop husbandry practices among tea farmers and farmers who have resumed delivering crop to their factories due to better payments, and favourable weather that prevailed across tea-growing regions.
The growth has come amid a turbulent time that has seen global tea prices plunge on the back of product oversupply in the market and decreased demand for tea all across markets.
Consequently, the price of a unit of KTDA tea in 2020, fell by 6.8 % to an average twelve-year low of $2.42 per kg compared to $2.59 per kg in 2019. This is the lowest that the KTDA average price has been since 2008 when the average price per kg of tea at the auction was $2.17.
In the previous three auctions for the year ended June 2020, the average price for a kg of tea at the auction dropped below $2; a scenario last observed in 2007.
The trend in falling prices is replicated across other markets such as India and Sri Lanka that have also posted similar price declines as a result of oversupply and the disruption in the industry.
The 54 tea factory companies which own the 69 factories that are managed by KTDA will proceed to close their financial books for the year and also declare the final payment to each of their tea factory farmers.
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