World's Biggest Black-Tea Exporter Targets 20% Output Growth
- Kenya expects 500,000 tons by 2020 from 412,000 tons this year
- Expects boost from new trees, shipments from small exporters
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Kenya, the world’s biggest exporter of black tea, expects production of the leaves to rise by about 20 percent by the end of the decade, as farmers harvest from new bushes, according to the industry regulator.
Output is projected to jump to 500,000 metric tons in 2020 from a projected 412,000 tons this year, after a drought damaged plants in most growing areas, said Samuel Ogola, head of the Tea Directorate. Most regions in Kenya received below 75 percent of their seasonal long-term average between March and May, according to the nation’s Meteorological Department.