Total revenue recorded Rs. 20.1 billion, showing an increase of Rs. 2.9 billion compared to the Rs. 17.1 billion achieved in January 2018.The FOB (free on board) value of exports were up 4% by Rs. 33.41 per kg with average value reaching Rs. 852.14 per kg in January 2019 from the year before.

Among the major importers of Sri Lankan tea in January 2019, Iraq emerged as the largest importer followed by Russia and Turkey whilst Iran, Libya and Syria are some of the other noteworthy importers for the period under review.The tea production meanwhile, for the month of January 2019 reached 23.2 million kilograms against 24.2 million kilograms of January 2018 indicating a decrease of 1.06 million kilograms or 4.3 percent.

The decline in tea production reflected in all categories when compared with the same month of previous year.The orthodox tea production has come down by 0.967 million kilograms, CTC production showing a decrease of 0.15 million kilograms while green tea production declining by 0.058 million kilograms.