Burundi tea revenues up
BURUNDI'S tea export earnings rose by 16% in July year-on-year due to a rise in output, putting the country on course to raise full-year volumes and exceed its earlier earnings forecast, a tea board official said on Friday.
BUJUMBURA
BURUNDI'S tea export earnings rose by 16% in July year-on-year due to a rise in output, putting the country on course to raise full-year volumes and exceed its earlier earnings forecast, a tea board official said on Friday.
The state-run tea board, OTB, said it had exported 890 tonnes worth $1.92m during the month, up from 630 tonnes sold in July 2009 for $1.65m.
“The average export price was down, but the value in terms of earnings was boosted by a great quantity of tea put on the regional market,†Remy Ndayininahaze, head of OTB’s export department, told Reuters.
He said the average export price dropped to $2.16 per kilo last month, from $2.63 per kilo last year.
The tea board said it had earned $11.9m from the export of 4,884 tonnes, up from $9.04mn in the same period last year, which it earned from the sale of 3,993 tonnes.
Burundi exports 80% of its tea through a weekly regional auction held in Kenya’s port city of Mombasa.
Most of Burundi’s tea had started to attract improved prices this month, helped by strong demand and quality, Ndayininahaze said.
Total revenue for this year will exceed its earlier forecast of $12.7m, the board said. In 2009, tea exports were worth $16m.
The board projects that output will rise to 7,500 tonnes this year from 7,000 tonnes in 2009, due to good rains and use of fertiliser.
Tea is Burundi’s second foreign exchange earner and employs some 300,000 smallholder farmers in a nation of 8 million people.
Reuters
BURUNDI'S tea export earnings rose by 16% in July year-on-year due to a rise in output, putting the country on course to raise full-year volumes and exceed its earlier earnings forecast, a tea board official said on Friday.
The state-run tea board, OTB, said it had exported 890 tonnes worth $1.92m during the month, up from 630 tonnes sold in July 2009 for $1.65m.
“The average export price was down, but the value in terms of earnings was boosted by a great quantity of tea put on the regional market,†Remy Ndayininahaze, head of OTB’s export department, told Reuters.
He said the average export price dropped to $2.16 per kilo last month, from $2.63 per kilo last year.
The tea board said it had earned $11.9m from the export of 4,884 tonnes, up from $9.04mn in the same period last year, which it earned from the sale of 3,993 tonnes.
Burundi exports 80% of its tea through a weekly regional auction held in Kenya’s port city of Mombasa.
Most of Burundi’s tea had started to attract improved prices this month, helped by strong demand and quality, Ndayininahaze said.
Total revenue for this year will exceed its earlier forecast of $12.7m, the board said. In 2009, tea exports were worth $16m.
The board projects that output will rise to 7,500 tonnes this year from 7,000 tonnes in 2009, due to good rains and use of fertiliser.
Tea is Burundi’s second foreign exchange earner and employs some 300,000 smallholder farmers in a nation of 8 million people.
Reuters