Domestic production, consumption rising

Yasir Wardad | Published: February 07, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00

The country's tea import marked a sharp rise in 2013 despite a record domestic production of the popular beverage, officials said.
Its import rose by 4.4 million kg in only one year's time.
A record 63.5 million kg of tea was produced in 2013, up by 1.0 million kg from 2012, an official of the Bangladesh Tea Board (BTB) said.
He said the data was finalised last week. It showed a 1.16 growth in 2013 compared to that of the previous year.
He said tea production showed a robust 5.6 per cent growth in 2012 compared to that of 2011 when 59.15 million kg was produced from the country's 160 tea estates.
The official said despite having bumper production, import of the commodity also rose during the period to meet the rising local demand.
He said that import of the produce was nearly 5.6 million kg in 2012. It reached nearly 10.0 million kg in 2013.
"Tea production is increasing by 1.15 per cent to 2 per cent annually but at the same time, the demand is soaring by 3.5 to 4 per cent prompting traders to import more tea to meet the additional demand", he said.
However, when asked about good production, Harun-ur-Rashid Sarker, a director at BTB said, "Favourable weather, time-befitting measures and more tea gardens in the northern district of Panchagarh helped increase production recently".
He said nearly 1,400 hectares of land have come under tea plantation in Panchagarh.
"Per hectare production of the gardens is 3,200 kg while other gardens in the country fetch 2,000-2,200 kg per hectare", he said.
"Investment by the private sector in tea gardens of Panchagarh is increasing. This would raise the acreage ten folds in the next five years", he said.
However, export of the item, which was once the second cash crop of Bangladesh, earned just Tk190 million in 2013 which was Tk 5.0 billion ten years back , the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) data showed.
The fall in export was attributed to the rising domestic demand which has made tea precious locally, EPB officials said.