The Hindu Business Line : Indian tea delegation to visit Pak in April

Advertisement

Kolkata Feb. 6 At the invitation of Pakistan Tea Association, an Indian tea delegation, comprising tea producers from both South and North India, will visit Pakistan in the middle of April. The cities of Karachi, Lahore and Peshawar are likely to be covered. The last time a tea delegation from India visited Pakistan was in July 2005.

Positioning brand

The focus of the forthcoming visit to Pakistan, according to tea industry sources, will be on how to position the India brand in that country. This is because the acceptance of Indian tea is rising in Pakistan. In 2005 (January - December), India exported about a little over 10 million kg of tea to Pakistan.

The figure in 2006, it is estimated, will be more than 12 million kg. The Indian tea industry would like to have the figure stepped up further to 15 million kg in the current year (2007), it is learnt. Some quantities of Indian tea, it is felt, are routed to Pakistan after blending at Dubai but the volume of such shipments is difficult to estimate, the sources add.

Shipping issue

The issue of the shipping service is one of the factors affecting tea exports to Pakistan. Despite the signing of shipping protocol, regular direct sailings between the two countries are yet to materialise. Again, direct sailings from any of India's west coast ports to Pakistan's Karachi port might not be of great help to north Indian tea shipped largely through Kolkata port.

If the volume is large and the buying is regular, perhaps transportation of the north Indian tea by the surface route might also be considered, it is felt. Whether Pakistan tea importers, mostly based in Karachi, will welcome such a move is, of course, another matter.

In this respect, Kenya has a clear advantage. The shipping services between Mombasa and Karachi ports are direct and regular and freight is competitive.

Tough market

However, it is also conceded that the Pakistani market may not be easy to crack. The competition from Kenya. Right now, Pakistan consumes 140 million kg annually and almost the entire consumption is met by way of imports. Kenya is the biggest supplier of tea to Pakistan, an estimated 85 million kg annually. The Indian tea producers, to capture the Pakistani market, therefore must supply at competitive prices the kind of tea (qualitywise) Kenya supplies. Pakistan is not very particular about high quality high-priced tea, the sources add.