Category: Agriculture

Mar 26, 2010 9LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Watawala Plantations, which manufactures and sells branded teas, has decided to set up a fully owned subsidiary to sell its locally branded products, a stock exchange filing said. The new unit, named Watawala Marketing, will handle the firm’s fast moving consumer goods from April 1. The firm, a […]

Mar 25, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has introduced a quality certification programme for tea exports to ensure cleaner teas are sent to overseas markets, devoid of stones and other contamination now found during pre-export screening, officials said. Random test will be done on products to ensure they conform to the standards after certification is […]

Mar 23, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s tea production in February was back to the usual levels having recovered from the effects of drought and a market crash last year, Tea Board statistics showed. A total of 23.5 million kilos of tea, including green tea, was produced in February 2010, up sharply from the 12. […]

Mar 22, 2010 (LBO) – Buying tea for stock during the commodities crash in the last quarter of 2008 helped boost profits at Finlays Colombo group last year, the Sri Lankan company has revealed. The firm, part of the Swire group of the UK, said its tea packing business made higher profits in the first […]

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 […]