Category: Agriculture

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 […]

BANGKOK, January 29, 2009 (AFP) – Thailand’s cabinet Thursday approved a plan to stockpile 200,000 tonnes of rubber from next month in a bid to stabilise prices which have almost halved in a year.Thailand’s rubber industry, based mostly in the southern and eastern provinces, has suffered in recent months from falling oil prices, which have […]

Jan 28, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan tea prices at the Colombo auctions this week maintained their upward trend with demand strong despite the weakening of the currencies of key buyer countries like Russia, brokers said. Supply was tight because of dry weather in key origins while demand remained strong because of winter in the […]

Jan 23, 2009 (LBO) – Prices of tea, Sri Lanka’s main export commodity, rose again at this week’s Colombo auction on strong demand from traditional markets like Russia and the Middle East. To receive instant alerts from LBO on your Dialog mobile type ‘lbo’ and send to 678 Brokers said there was good demand for […]

Jan 14, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan tea prices rose again at this week’s Colombo auction on strong demand with brokers saying the trend augurs well for producers who saw the market crash towards the end of last year. “The market continued strong for Low Grown varieties,” Asia Siyaka Commodities said in a report on […]

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.” […]