The coronavirus outbreak is causing a rare stir in the usually staid global tea market, with labour lockdowns stifling supplies just as millions in lockdown drive up demand for the beverage known for its immunity-boosting properties.
The owner of a tea house pours a cup of tea in this picture illustration taken April 25, 2020. REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov/Illustration
India’s output is likely to drop by 120 million kgs or 9% in 2020 as the lockdown initially forced plantations to suspend plucking during the opening harvest - the prized first flush - and then operate with about half the workforce, said Prabhat Bezboruah, chairman of India’s Tea Board.In March, exports from India slumped 34% and nearly halved from Sri Lanka, India’s Commerce Ministry and tea brokers say.
Plantations have struggled to collect the first flush crop in Darjeeling Hills, known for the world’s most expensive tea, as India ordered its 1.3 billion people indoors until May 3 so its modest public health system does not collapse under the weight of infections that have crossed 31,000. Less labour also means more bush overgrowth, which will hit later crop potential, tea garden owner Rajib Barooah said.
In Sri Lanka, tea production was down nearly a quarter due to an earlier drought, and the virus is now affecting exports, said Jayampathy Molligoda, chairman of the Sri Lanka Tea Board.
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