Pakistan sees immense scope for tea trade with India

Pakistan sees immense scope for tea trade with India
Coonoor, T.Nadu | April 22, 2006 10:12:31 AM IST

A fourteen-member delegation of the Pakistan Tea Association, which is on a three-day visit to India, has said that there is an immense scope for increasing tea imports from India.

The delegation is in Tamil Nadu to explore the possibility of purchasing more tea from the region as the supply from its traditional suppliers - Kenya -has come down due to a drought.

Chairman of the delegation, Mohammad Altaf, said Pakistan looked forward to trading with India.

"We have a particular segment that consumes a particular variety similar to (tea from) south India, which constitutes south India, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Indonesia, China. So, there is a very big scope. With the fruitful interaction here and with the education that has been imparted all the way right from the beginning and today. We look forward to a fruitful interaction... There are all prospects of further boost in the tea trade from Pakistan," Altaf said.

The delegates also tasted a number of tea samples from several tea estates of the region on Friday.

Altaf said Pakistan had imported 9 .2 million kilograms of tea last year from India, adding that this year it would be doubled as expected.

Pakistan has already reduced the duty on Imports of tea from India from 35 percent to 10 percent.

In 2004-05, Pakistan imported 103 million kilogram of tea of which 82 million was from Kenya and only 9.2 million from India.

Moreover, 40 million kilograms are smuggled into the country from other countries.

Analysts say Pakistan, the second largest consumer of tea, imports more than 70 percent of the 130 million kilogram tea in Kenya. However, traders say that due to the shortfall of export from Kenya, Pakistan would see a shortfall of 50 million kilograms.

India produced 149.76 million kg of tea in January-April, up 17.7 percent from the same period last year, while exports grew 7.6 percent to 52.80 million kg.

But trade between the two south Asian nations remains hostage to progress in diplomacy over Kashmir.

Trade between the two countries has grown since they began peace talks over two years ago, but remains well below one-billion dollar a year, and under two-billion dollar, including a black market trade often routed via Dubai.

Country's tea industry has been hit in recent years by high production costs and sluggish exports due to competition from producers such as Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Bangladesh and Kenya. (ANI)

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