Category: Agriculture

Jan 09, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan tea prices revived at the first auction of the year this week with the industry saying a shortfall in the crop and the forthcoming ‘quality season’ should ensure better earnings in the first quarter.Anil Perera, head of the Private Tea Factory Owners Association, said the shortfall in crop […]

Jan 08, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan coconut growers are giving up cultivation and selling estates for housing as prices of nuts have fallen too low to be remunerative, a left-wing parliamentarian representing cultivators said.“Coconut cultivators want a stable price that will cover their production costs,” said Namal Karunaratne, convenor of the Joint Organization of […]

Jan 08, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s tea production and exports fell sharply in November 2008 but export earnings in the 11 months were ahead of the year before and a record annual crop is expected, brokers said.Tea production in November 2008 at 24.6 million kilos was the lowest since 1999 as producers cut output […]

Jan 07, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s tea production up to November last year was almost 300 million kilos, well ahead of the year before, according to statistics released by the Sri Lanka Tea Board. To receive instant alerts from LBO on your Dialog mobile type ‘lbo’ and send to 678 The increase came mainly […]

Jan 05, 2009 (LBO) – Heavy rains in Sri Lanka last year should ensure an adequate coconut crop for 2009 that would be enough to meet the demands of both domestic consumers as well as export industry, a senior official said.“In the market at present more than 50-75 million nuts remain unsold.There are excess nuts.” […]

Dec 30, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s tea market is expected to recover somewhat early next year with a long break in the Colombo auctions and production shortfalls in other origins keeping demand buoyant, officials said. The slowdown in tea exports from African origins is also expected to keep demand buoyant. Tea output in Kenya, […]

Dec 18, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lankan exporters of desiccated coconut said a recent government hike in edible oil import duty could put them out of business as prices of raw nuts will remain high, making their exports uncompetitive. To receive instant alerts from LBO on your Dialog mobile type ‘lbo’ and send to 678 […]

Dec 18, 2008 (LBO) – The Sri Lankan government says it wants a large stock of imported rice to boost stocks, days after the country’s statistics office announced a bumper harvest for the most recent growing season. At that time the ministry of consumer affairs allowed the import of 8,000 tons of rice from Burma […]

Dec 17, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lankan tea growers said their harvests had halved with the collapse in prices at the Colombo auctions, affecting the livelihoods of thousands of small farmers and the local economy. To receive instant alerts from LBO on your Dialog mobile type ‘lbo’ and send to 678 Chandrasena Wijesinghe, convenor of […]

Dec 10, 2008 (LBO) – Prices of Sri Lanka’s low grown teas recovered slightly at this week’s auction after plunging for several weeks but it was not clear if they had bottomed out. Teas from the high and mid-grown elevations produced mainly by listed regional plantations companies fell mainly because of lower quality. Forbes & […]

Dec 05, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s tea production and exports in October fell after prices crashed although export earnings in the first 10 months have exceeded a billion dollars, brokers said. To receive instant alerts from LBO on your Dialog mobile type ‘lbo’ and send to 678 Tea exports in October had dropped to […]

Dec 04, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has raised import duty on edible oil by changing it from a 28 percent rate to a specific levy of 40 rupees a kilo, in a bid to keep domestic coconut oil prices high, a government minister said.The Cabinet had also given approval to the ministry of finance […]