India tea
Mandatory closure of India tea factories on Dec. 19 begins a hiatus that extends to February in the northern tea regions. Closures, first imposed in 2018, prevent the processing of tea leaves from prunings that in past years flooded the late season with 25-30 million kilos of inferior tea.
The Tea Board of India ordered a halt for plucking on Dec. 19. Processing must stop Dec. 21, and all teas must be sorted, packed and moved to storage by the first of the year. Trees are aggressively pruned during dormancy. The hiatus enables estates to focus on pruning which leads to better quality production in the spring.
India is predicted to exceed last year’s harvest, despite adverse weather in both the northern and southern regions. The second flush was strong, but hot weather hampered October production, which was down 5.90 million kilos. Overall, India is ahead of 2018 for the first 10 months and on track to set a new production record. Through October, South India was down slightly, at 179 million kilos, but tea production in the north was up 1004 million kilos compared to 2018.
With two months left to tally, India’s production is estimated at 1,360 million kilos, up 21 million kilos for the year and a new record compared to 1,339 harvested in 2018. Globally, 2019 has been a good year for black tea production. Output in the major producing countries of Kenya, Sri Lanka, and India rose to 1,873 according to Global Tea Digest. The publication recorded 1,870 million kilos of black tea at this time last year.