Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Friday, Jul 23, 2004
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Friday, Jul 23, 2004 |
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Agri-Biz & Commodities
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Tea Industry & Economy - Exports & Imports Iran lifts ban on India tea; exports set to resume Kohinoor Mandal
Kolkata , July 22 WITH the Iranian Government lifting the ban on import of Indian tea, a delegation from that country, which is visiting India, has expressed interest in buying orthodox tea. According to sources in the domestic tea industry, the ban was lifted about a month or two ago. Tariff barriers have been reduced to only 82 cents per kg and there is no restriction on the quantity of imports. A nine-member team, lead by the Chairman of the Board of Iranian Association of Tea Traders & Distributors, met the top brass of the Indian Tea Association (ITA), including its Chairman, Mr C.K. Dhanuka. Iran consumes approximately 100 million kg of tea, of which 50 million kg is imported. However, for the last few years, the Iranian Government was forced to ban imports of Indian tea because of its huge domestic unsold stock. According to the Iranian delegates, the ban had adversely affected Iranian tea trade. So the possible resumption would certainly boost not only Iranian tea trade but also the Indian orthodox tea producers. Iran mostly prefers Assam's orthodox tea and its interest would boost orthodox tea production in that region. The Union government is also trying to rejuvenate orthodox tea production in India. "Earlier, the orthodox tea producers of Assam suffered because they failed to export and there was hardly any domestic market for their produce. So they shifted over to CTC," an ITA official explained. The Indian tea industry is hoping that the Iranians buy approximately 25 million kg of Assam's orthodox tea. To help the exporters, the ITA has created an Indo-Iran Facilitation Tea Cell. According to Mr Dhanuka, India greatly values Iran as a key export market, which demands quality teas. "India would seek firm indications from Iranian buyers to tailor to its orthodox production for the remaining months of the current year and future years," he said. Earlier, in Iran there used to a blending condition too. For every kg of Indian tea imported, two kg of Iranian tea was supposed to be blended into it. The Iranian government has also lifted that condition. The current development will only further boost exports.
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