The Darjeeling first-flush tea, made with tea leaves from the first plucking of the season, is mostly exported and Europe is a major market. But inflation-battered Europeans are not ready to take the tea at the price which the planters are asking for.
Darjeeling planters said European buyers were not keen to pay Rs 8,000 per kg for high-quality first flush teas and Rs 4,000 per kg for the medium quality which they were seeking.
Demand from Japan, another large market, too has weakened, with buyers slowing purchase as a fall in the yen’s value against the dollar has increased the import cost for them.
First-flush teas are entirely sold through private sales and do not come to the auction centres. Planters said they were on a wait-and-watch mode, while also selling small quantities when they get good prices.
Anshuman Kanoria, chairman of the Indian Tea Exporters Association and a Darjeeling planter, said: “Due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, and its economic fallout on the major European countries, buyers have either stopped purchasing Darjeeling tea or are offering lesser prices for the Darjeeling first-flush teas.”
Planters fear that if the European and Japanese buyers do not lift the premium first-flush tea, then they would be forced to send it to auction centres where it would fetch much lesser prices.While first flush accounts for only 15-20% of the total annual volume of Darjeeling tea, it contributes 30-35% of value because of the high quality and price. Planters are facing weak demand despite production of this variety of tea being 20% less compared with last year, as a long dry spell had impacted the crop size.
The first set of tender tea leaves that come out in the spring are usually plucked from early March till the end of April. The 87 tea estates in Darjeeling annually produce 7 million kg of tea.