Sri Lanka May tea output down 4.4 pct on year

(Reuters) - Sri Lankan tea production fell 4.4 percent in May from the same month a year earlier, the Sri Lanka Tea Board said on Tuesday, citing adverse weather
conditions and low fertiliser usage.
Tea output fell to 31.87 million kg from 33.34 million in May 2007.
"Adverse weather conditions prevailed in May and low fertiliser usage by tea producers due to high fertiliser price are the reasons for this drop," said H.D. Hemarathna, the director general at Sri Lanka Tea Board.
The output in Jan-May period rose 19.9 percent to 144.02 million kg from 120.14 million kg a year earlier, due to a low base in 2007 followed by the lingering effects of a sector strike.
Output fell 2 percent to 304.6 million kg last year from 310.8 million in 2006, with officials citing inadequate fertiliser use due to high prices, unfavourable weather and the fallout from an industry strike.
Sri Lanka exported 309.8 million kg of tea last year, including re-exports of 15.6 million kg in imports that tea companies had purchased from overseas to meet client orders.
Bulk tea accounted for nearly 60 percent of exports.
Tea export revenues surpassed $1 billion in 2007 despite the fall in output, thanks to a rise in global tea prices.
Sri Lanka Tea Board officials said the industry expected to boost foreign earnings by 20 percent in 2008 by adding value.
Sri Lanka's record 2005 harvest of 317.2 million kg made it the world's fourth-biggest producer behind China, India and Kenya and second only in exports to Kenya in that year.
Tea is one of Sri Lanka's main foreign currency revenue earners, along with remittances, textiles, garments and tourism.