Kenyan tea exports to Russia fall Sh1bn on war

Published Mar 29, 2023

Tridge summary

The Russian-Ukraine war has negatively impacted Kenyan tea exports to Moscow, reducing their value from Sh6.2 billion in 2021 to Sh5.1 billion in 2022. This decline is due to reduced demand and logistical disruptions caused by economic sanctions and access restrictions to US dollars in Russia. The war also affected other major tea market countries like Pakistan and Egypt, leading to lower export volumes. Despite these challenges, Russia remained Kenya's sixth largest buyer of tea. Overall, Kenya's tea earnings increased by Sh2 billion in 2022 due to a weaker shilling, increased volumes, and higher tea prices. However, many of Kenya's key tea markets are currently facing foreign currency shortages and inflation, further impacting export volumes and prices.

Disclaimer:The above summary was generated by Tridge's proprietary AI model for informational purposes.

Original content

The Russian-Ukraine war has cut the value of tea exports to Moscow by Sh1.1 billion, highlighting the effects of the chaos on Kenyan farmers. Data from the Tea Board of Kenya indicates that the value of tea exported to Russia went down from Sh6.2 billion in 2021 to Sh5.1 billion last year. This was attributed to the war that started in early 2022. Consumers in Russia faced hard economic times as a result of economic sanctions, hurting demand for Kenyan tea amid the disruption of logistics. Read: How Russia-Ukraine war hurts Kenya tea exports Selling to Russia also became harder as the country fell under restrictions in terms of accessing US dollars. “Lower export volumes were due to fewer imports by Pakistan, Russia and Egypt owing to challenges of foreign exchange reserves in these markets occasioned by the effects of the Russia-Ukraine crisis on the global economy,” said the TBK. Pakistan and Egypt account for 55 percent of the total tea exports that Kenya sells to the world but ...

Source: Businessdailyafrica