With only the last quarter of the current calendar remaining, indications are that the global tea production is heading for a new record in 2013.

With almost every country posting a higher crop than last year, global traders are predicting the overall production of all teas to rise to 4.8 billion kg this year from last year’s 4.6 billion kg.

It was only in 2010 that production crossed, for the first time, 4-billion-kg mark and the expectation as of now is that 5-billion-kg mark would be reached as early as in 2014.

This means a growth of one billion kg in just five years.

Official production data for August is available for Sri Lanka, Malawi, Uganda and Bangladesh while it is confined to July for India.

“According to our compilation, the global black tea production so far this year has increased to 1,177 million kg (mkg) from 1,066 mkg”, Rajesh Gupta, publisher of annual Global Tea Digest, told Business Line .

This marks a growth of 111 mkg or 10.41 per cent.

All countries except Malawi and Indonesia have posted an increase.

Even here, Malawi’s output has fallen just marginally by 0.53 mkg to total 33.67 mkg.

Indonesia’s output has drifted by just 1.20 mkg to reach 33.30 mkg.

The 0.63 mkg increase in August has helped Sri Lanka’s eight-month production to rise by 7.03 mkg to 222.13 mkg.

Unfavourable climate in August pulled down the month’s production in Uganda by 3.40 mkg but helped by higher output in earlier months, the overall production in eight months rose by 0.33 mkg to reach 35.95 mkg.

Bangladesh’s output also slipped marginally by 0.10 mkg in August, but the eight month cumulative production rose by 0.66 mkg to 33.31 mkg.

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