Category: Agriculture

Mar 19, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s poultry industry has been squeezed by taxes on imported maize which pushed feed costs up and price controls on processed chicken which worsened a downturn in the industry, a top agro firm has said. Ceylon Grain Elevators group, a unit of Singapore’s Prima, said an economic slump in […]

Mar 19, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s tea industry expects a short ‘Western quality season’ this year with teas that had the desired quality picking up in price at recent auctions as volumes fell, officials said. “We might have a late season – there are signs of teas brightening up,” said Dhamitha Perera, chairman of […]

Mar 12, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lankan tea prices rose at this week’s auction as quality improved and crops coming down owing to drought, brokers said. Prices of some varieties of ‘Western high grown’ teas cultivated on the Western slopes of the central hills rose by 15 rupees a kilo and more following quality, brokers […]

Mar 09, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s tea industry, a top foreign exchange earner, is still starved of refunds from a government tax on exports, despite rival origins expanding market share, an industry official said. A committee of government and industry officials formed to decide how to allocate the funds raised from the cess on […]

Mar 08, 2010 (LBO) – Drought and higher wages pushed Sri Lanka’s Talawakelle Tea Estates into the red last year, its first loss, although a recovery in crop and higher prices in the last quarter helped reduce losses. The firm, a unit of the Hayleys group, said it made a 22. 3 million loss in […]

Mar 04, 2010 (LBO) – Prices of Sri Lankan teas grown at higher elevations mainly by regional plantations companies recovered at this week’s Colombo auctions as quality improved and crops began to fall, brokers said. Auction average prices have stayed at record highs in the past two months, they said. “The dearer trend in prices […]

Feb 26, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lankan tea prices at the Colombo auctions fell for the second week running this week on bigger volumes and lower quality, although production was recovering, brokers said. Asia Siyaka Commodities said Sri Lanka’s January output indicated a recovery in the island’s production, especially among small farmers cultivating the low […]

Feb 24, 2010 (LBO) – A United Nations agricultural development agency said it will give Sri Lanka a loan of 25 million dollars to help small holder farmers increase incomes. The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), based in Rome, said the loan will directly benefit small producers, women, landless households and young people in […]

Feb 23, 2010 (LBO) – Production of tea, Sri Lanka’s main export crop, showed a return to normal levels in January as the industry recovered from the effects of drought and labour action that sharply reduced output last year. The Tea Board has said it expects annual tea production this year to be more than […]

Feb 19, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lankan tea prices eased at the Colombo auctions this week but are still at record highs being much higher than last year both in rupee and dollar terms, brokers said. But the Western quality season, which is during this time of year, has yet to set in because of […]

Feb 18, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lankan coconut products exporter Coco Lanka has said it plans to expand and is holding talks with companies it had identified for possible takeover. Finance costs reduced sharply in both the quarter and the nine-month period, the accounts showed. According to a segmental analysis of the business for the […]

Feb 12, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has asked Russia, the biggest importer of Ceylon tea, to reduce import duty on value-added tea exports, a senior minister said. Export Development and International Trade Minister Gamini Peiris said the issue was discussed when Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa held talks with his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev […]