The tea leaf industry, with a large number of local consumers and China as the top export destination, is facing a labour shortage, according to the tea manufacturing community.
“Local consumption of tea leaves is still strong. Demand is also good. But, supply is dropping during these days due to labour shortage and transport difficulties. Demand is still good. Manufacturers are mainly struggling to get raw materials. Local consumption of tea leaves is still high,” said Ko San Min Tun, coordinator from the Myanmar Tea Association.
China is the top destination for Myanmar tea exports, with some products reaching regional countries such as Malaysia, Taiwan and Thailand.
“There are two main kinds of tea export – wet and dry. Black tea and others are exported by sea. The rest goes mainly via border trade. There are exports via both routes but, we face small difficulties in border trade route. We export tea mainly to China. China bought the most in 2022,” he said.
Recently, there has been more emphasis on self-sufficiency of tea rather than export and its yield is still low in Myanmar. Tea is grown in all regions and states except Bago, Taninthayi, Yangon, Ayeyawady Regions and Rakhine State while Shan State has the most plantations.
Thit Taw/ZN
