Sri Lanka's Tea Output Recovers, but Exports Fall Again

Sri Lanka's tea production rose year over year in June 2026, to 22.56 million kg from 21.71 million kg a year earlier, even as exports fell again.

Every elevation except Low Grown produced more tea in June 2026 than in June 2025, yet exports for the month came to 21.25 million kg, down 2.02 million kg from 23.27 million kg a year earlier.

Over the first half, production reached 131.89 million kg, still 3.88 million kg behind the 135.77 million kg of January to June 2025. Exports totalled 123.10 million kg against 126.81 million kg, a shortfall of 3.71 million kg for the half.

The figures come from the Tea Exporters Association of Sri Lanka, which attributed the sector's slow start to Ditwah's "severe damage on the High and Mid Grown sectors impacting infrastructure and worker engagement," and credited the industry with "efficient evacuation and rapid restoration of logistical aspects are already underway."

Orthodox tea accounted for 117,166 metric tons of the half-year crop, against 13,405 tons of CTC and 1,313 tons of green tea. On the export side, packeted tea led at 54,971 tons, ahead of bulk at 51,334 tons, tea bags at 12,431 tons, green tea at 2,281 tons and instant tea at 2,081 tons.

The buyer list did more than shift at the margins. Türkiye took 19,713 tons in June, up 149 percent from 7,906 tons a year earlier, roughly two and a half times its 2025 volume and comfortably the largest single order of the month.

Iraq, long a mainstay for Ceylon Tea, fell 28 percent to 13,423 tons from 18,714 tons. Libya dropped 60 percent, to 4,571 tons from 11,473 tons, sliding from the table's upper ranks into its middle.

Russia was steady at 11,608 tons, up 3 percent. Azerbaijan rose 72 percent to 6,559 tons, and Jordan took 4,331 tons against 2,850 a year earlier. Saudi Arabia (4,133 tons versus 4,178) and Syria (4,084 versus 3,779) barely moved. China slipped 4 percent to 4,890 tons, and Chile took 4,073 tons against 5,513.

Price offers less comfort than the rupee figure suggests. The average FOB export value for the half was Rs. 1,810.28 per kg (about US$5.70), up Rs. 65.18 on H1 2025, but in dollars that is US$5.70 against US$5.86, about 16 cents per kilo lower. The rupee's slide more than swallowed the nominal gain, and exporters bill in dollars.

That is the shape of the recovery so far: more tea coming off the bushes, less of it crossing the wharf, and a slightly cheaper kilo in the currency that pays for it.

TEA framed the medium term around competitiveness rather than volume, saying "differentiation would be a key factor for the future of Ceylon Tea," against climate change, labor shortages and rising costs that weigh on the island relative to larger producing nations. On June's evidence, the differentiation that matters most immediately is in the customer list, where the tonnage is arriving from a different set of addresses than it did a year ago.

Sources: Tea Exporters Association of Sri Lanka, Market Reports.