In a surprise twist, India, the world’s second largest tea producer after China, has emerged as the largest importer of Kenyan tea, highlighting a significant shift in the global tea trade dynamics.
According to the Tea Board of Kenya, exports to India shot up from 3.53 million kg from January to October 2023 to 13.71 million kg during the same period in 2024. The 288 percent jump makes India the country’s largest importer of its teas.
The development has sparked concerns that the cheap and lower-quality African tea is used for blending and even re-exported under the brand of Indian tea.
India's tea exports have also witnessed a significant increase in 2024, rising from 184.46 million kg between January and October 2023 to 209.14 million kg during the same period in 2024. This represents a growth of over 13 percent, according to the Tea Board of India's report on tea exports in 2024.
Assam and West Bengal accounted for the majority of India's tea exports, solidifying their positions as key tea-producing regions in the country.
The leap in tea imports from Kenya has been a cause of concern for tea producers and traders in India, which has been grappling with oversupply for some time, although production in the country drooped by more than 50 million kg in 2024 with Assam recording a crop loss of about 20 million kg.
"Recent imports from Kenya have been alarming, as India's oversupply of tea has suppressed local prices. It’s a matter of concern that some Indian brands are blending cheap, lower-quality African teas, along with substandard teas from Iran and Vietnam, and re-exporting these as Indian teas," a planter in tea-rich Assam, said.
The average price of the imported teas from Kenya is Rs 156.73 per kg compared to Rs 252.83 per kg fetched by Assam tea in auctions up to October 2024.
Tea industry captains attributed the entry of cheaper teas to the abolishment of the North Indian Tea Council, which monitored the quality and minimum residue limit (of pesticides) compliance of teas.
Indian Tea Exporters' Association (ITEA) Chairman Anshuman Kanoria admitted that the large quantity of tea imports from Kenya is a matter of concern. He said it is important to get the correct customs import figures for tea from all origins to get an accurate picture of imports and net exports.
"Uncontrolled imports and their export as Indian tea bring serious negative consequences for the image, demand, and price of Indian tea. It also creates an uneven playing field for exporters promoting genuine Indian tea vis-à-vis those passing off imported tea as Indian tea. The surge in tea imports and their usage needs to be ascertained with full consequences for violations," Kanoria has been quoted as saying in The Assam Tribune newspaper.
Secretary of Guwahati Tea Auction Buyers' Association Dinesh Bihani said that the tea imported from Kenya is possibly old tea. "Imports are happening because Mombasa auction prices are much lower than in India for comparable teas/quality. Around 119 million kg tea are kept there for over one year due to government regulation on minimum price fixed at auctions. All the teas are not Kenyan; we say Kenya because the auctions are held in Mombasa. These teas can have multiple origins like Burundi, Ugandan Tanzania, Malawi, etc.," he said.
Small Tea Growers Are Concerned About Kenyan Tea Imports
A massive jump in tea imports and the Tea Board India’s directive for early closure of tea production in North India has left over 200,000 small tea growers from northeast India, mainly Assam, at their wit’s end.
These growers, who contribute over 54 percent of tea produced in the northeast, have written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi under the banner of North East Confederation Small Tea Growers’ Association. They sought the prime minister’s help to save the more than 200-year-old Indian tea industry.
In a letter, the association said the Tea Board had directed the small tea growers to stop harvesting tea leaves from December 1, 2024 for overcoming demand-supply mismatch.
“We have noticed a huge jump in imports of tea from Kenya and other African countries and also Nepal. As per the official figures of the Tea Board of Kenya, the exports from Kenya to India have jumped 288 percent compared to previous year,” the association said.
“In regard to the import of Nepal tea, the Mechi Customs Office has witnessed a 55.70 percent rise in tea export to India in six months. The early closure of tea production in North India is cited as the reason behind the rise in import of tea. Therefore, the Tea Board’s intention to control oversupply of tea in India got defeated,” the letter said.
Stating that excellent leaves, in terms of quality, were noticed in the tea bushes last December but they could not be plucked due to the Tea Board’s directive, the association said it was a “national loss”, not just a loss for the small tea growers.
“Restricting production only in north India will not help in overcoming demand-supply mismatch, if any. Moreover, the Tea Board has no official statistics to prove that there is oversupply of tea in India. We have heard that the imported teas are often re-blended and re-exported as Indian teas, which has severely impacted the brand image, value, and demand of Indian teas, especially those from Northeast India in the global market,” it said.
Referring to reports that indicated that 119 million kgs of old teas are lying at the Mombasa auction center and awaiting export to India, the association warned that if such unregulated import continues, it would deal a devastating blow to the small tea growers of the northeast and dismantle the rural economy of the region.
In a related development, small tea growers of West Bengal state in India, under the banner of Jalphaiguri District Small Tea Growers’ Association, has demanded that the tea growers be allowed to continue harvesting till December 31.
In a letter to the chief minister of West Bengal, Mamota Bandopadhya, the small tea growers said that the tea growers are running huge losses because of early closure of plucking as per the Tea Board India directive. “Tea plantations have been witnessing good crops till the end of December, but the planters are not being able to carry out plucking due to the Tea Board directive,” the letter stated, adding that the crop loss in Bengal was nearly 15 percent compared to the previous year.
This has also resulted in the government losing revenue in the form of GST.
The Tea Board of India has started the early closure of plucking initiative since last eight years to manage the oversupply situation and prevent poor quality production during the winter season.
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