Kenyan tea exports drop in September, TBK says

Workers use tea picking machine on a tea farm in Nandi Hills. [File, Standard]

Kenyan tea weighing 48.8 million kgs was exported to 60 destinations in September 2025, reflecting a drop compared to 50,927,94 kgs in the same period last year.

A report by the Tea Board of Kenya (TBK) states that the variance of 2.1 million kgs was attributed to adverse weather conditions in the east and west regions of the rift.

In the month under review, Pakistan bought the highest volumes of 18.1 million kgs, followed by Egypt, 9.3 million kgs, reflecting 18.5 million kgs and 7.6 million kgs of the previous year, respectively.

TBK Chief Executive Officer Willy Mutai noted that other key export destinations for Kenyan tea were the UK, UAE, India, Russia, Oman, Iran, Poland, and Yemen.

"Value-added tea was shipped to 26 market destinations, which included the United Kingdom, Somalia, Yemen, Ireland, United States, Burkina Faso, India, Cote D'ivoire, among others," read part of the report dated November 17.

In the local sales category, the report expounds that 3.13 million kgs were sold compared to 2.74 million kgs in the same month last year.

"The local tea sales have been on a declining trend; consumption of tea is expected to increase into the future due to enhanced affordability to the consumers following the removal of VAT on all Kenya tea supplied into the local market and zero rating of packaging materials through the Finance Act, 2025," said Mutai.

In the month under review, the tea farmers produced 42.51 million kgs, compared to 42.41 million kgs recorded during the same period of last year.

Across the regions, the output was slightly higher, with the independent/private tea factories recording a 10.27 per cent increase in production from 10.01 million kgs to 11.04 million kgs. Within the Estates factories, the increase was relatively lower at 2.86 per cent from 11.11 million kgs to 11.43 million kgs.