Category: Agriculture

March 13, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan tea prices rose again at this week’s Colombo auction mainly because volumes had fallen sharply owing to drought but crops are expected to revive with the onset of some rains. Forbes and Walker Tea Brokers said Sri Lanka’s tea production in January 2009 was the lowest in 15 […]

March 07, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan tea prices rose at this week’s Colombo auctions mainly because of a shortfall in crop as well as improved quality, brokers said.Prices are likely to remain strong if the present dry weather continues and curtails the crop, they said. About 50 invoices of high grown teas from regional […]

March 5, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka, one of the world’s biggest tea exporters, registered a 30 percent drop in overseas sales in January because of a decline in the crop, the Sri Lanka Tea Board said on Thursday. Growers have also curbed output at the request of the Tea Board to manage high production […]

Feb 26, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan tea prices rose again at this week’s Colombo auction, where volumes were lower than usual and are likely to fall further, brokers said. The main buyers from Russia and the Middle East were active in the market. Prices of teas from the estates of listed regional plantations companies […]

Feb 23, 2009 (LBO) – Tea prices rose sharply at last week’s Colombo auction with crops on the decline and the quality season which attracts overseas buyers in full swing, brokers said.The brightest seasonal Nuwara Eliya BOP teas moved up sharply by 50 – 100 rupees per kilo. The market also moved up sharply for […]

Feb 21, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Kelani Valley Plantations said net profit fell 33.5 percent to 276 million rupees in the 2008 financial year mainly owing to the collapse of tea and rubber prices in the final quarter.Sales grew 10 percent to 3,109 million rupees in the year ending December 31, 2008, the company, […]

Feb 19, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is seeking protection for the Ceylon Tea brand and seven growing areas under international intellectual property laws that cover products under ‘geographical indicators’, a government minister said. Sri Lanka Tea Board, a state regulatory body, has been authorized to seek protection under the provisions of the agreement on […]

Feb 13, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s state-owned Chilaw Plantations, which grows coconut, has increased profit by 47 percent to 153.68 million rupees under state management in 2008, a year when commodity prices shot to record highs. The Strategic Enterprise Management Agency (SEMA), a government agency charged with ensuring state enterprises are run profitably, said […]

Feb 12, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan tea prices fell at this week’s Colombo auction with lower buying from key markets like Russia contributing to the decline, brokers said.The better teas were selectively sought after by shippers to Japan, Pakistan and possibly the Continent. But there was noticeably less activity this week from shippers to […]

Feb 10, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka exported 319.7 million kilos of tea and earned an estimated 1.26 billion dollars in 2008, but industry officials said shippers may not have received full payment given the collapse of the market towards the end of the year. Brokers Asia Siyaka Commodities said in a market report that […]

Feb 06, 2009 (LBO) – Prices of Sri Lankan tea fell on lower demand at this week’s Colombo auctions, breaking an upward trend that began with the first sale of the year, brokers said.High-priced teas from the low grown regions, which produce the bulk of the national crop, suffered the worst falls. “The market for […]

Feb 06, 2009 (LBO) – The collapse in Sri Lankan tea prices towards the end of last year has caused a loss of 35 million rupees at Tea Smallholder Factories, a listed unit of John Keells Holdings, in the December quarter.Tea Smallholder Factories said net profit for the nine months ending December 31, 2008 was […]