Ahead of the ?goodwill trip? by a high-powered delegation of the Pakistan tea body to India this week, Pakistan Tea Association chairman Muhammad Hanif Janoo has said tea exports to Pakistan are likely to rise 20% this year.
The tea trade between the India and Pakistan got a boost earlier this year after Pakistan lifted import barriers on India and reciprocated to the offer of bilateral trade on ?most-favoured nation? (MFN) status. While Karachi tea market is supplied tea via sea route, the Islamabad-Lahore market gets tea through the land route.
The 12-member delegation will be led by PTA chairman Muhammad Hanif Janoo and include manager of Tapal Tea, one of the largest tea companies in Pakistan, and representative of Unilever. Apart from resolving bilateral trade issues, the delegation will also look for newer blends and qualities of tea.
In an email statement, Janoo said, ?Exports to the country has the potential to go up by 5 million kg.? India exported 25 mkg tea to Pakistan in 2011. Pakistan?s 220 mkg import is in two major categories of the crop ? black tea and green tea. Major quantity of black tea is imported from Kenya, India, Rwanda, Vietnam and Uganda.
Pakistan ? world?s third largest tea importer ? has been facing a shortage as Kenyan crop, hit during the first two months of 2012 by hot and dry weather conditions and frost attack. As a result, tea import from the African country into Pakistan reduced by 4 mkg to 5.1 mkg in January 2012 and by 1.6 mkg to 5 mkg in December last year. While shortage of Kenyan crop in Pakistan has opened opportunities for other tea-exporting countries like Indonesia, Vietnam and India, south Indian crop faced competitions from that of Vietnam.
?I feel export from India to Pakistan can go up to 30 mkg, as Vietnam is competing with the south Indian tea with almost similar qualities,? Janoo said.
According to Vietnam?s ministry of industry and trade, Pakistan is now the largest tea importer of the country and had imported around 15.9 mkg tea in 2011. In the first two months of the year, Pakistan imported 2.8 mkg tea from Vietnam.
?The visit will also give us a chance to discuss problems, meet new shippers, taste new blends and new qualities,? Janoo said. The Indian tea industry will showcase Dooars and Assam variety of the CTC crop.