4th Jun 2015 11:41
LONDON (Alliance News) - Camellia PLC Thursday said the early tea crop in Bangladesh is ahead of last year due to higher rainfall, but is lower than last year in Kenya as a result of droughts, while India has experienced mixed production levels and Malawi is starting to recover from poor weather conditions.
The agriculture and horticulture business, which is a major producer of tea, said that higher rainfall in Bangladesh has contributed to early tea crop ahead of last year, with the average price achieved at the new season's auction also ahead of the previous year. The partial reversal of the decrease in the import tax implemented in 2013 has helped to increase demand for local teas, it said.
India has experienced mixed results, as production in the Assam and Cachar gardens is well down on last year, but yields have increased in Dooars and Darjeeling. Average prices at auction have increased with the arrival of the new season teas, but sporadic rainfall means that the weather remains a concern, Camellia said.
The tea crop in Kenya has been well below that of last year due to drought conditions in the first quarter of the year, Camellia said, but volumes have started to increase following the recent rainfall, and while this led to an initial softening in prices, they have now started to rise ahead of last year.
Meanwhile in Malawi, tea production has recently started to recover from poor weather conditions earlier in the year, but sales volumes are significantly down due to poor climactic conditions at the end of 2014. Demand is improving and prices have started to increase, although they remain below those of the same period last year, Camellia said.
The company added that other horticulture crops are largely producing in line with expectations.
Camellia, which also owns AKD Engineering Ltd, AJT Engineering Ltd and Abbey Metal Finishing Co Ltd, added that operations at loss-making AKD will cease at the end of the month, while AJT's profit and sales in the year-to-date are significantly lower than last year due to lower oil prices. Trading at Abbey Metal is improving, but the business is expected to report a substantially reduced operating loss in 2015.
The review of the group's options for private bank Duncan Lawrie Ltd is also ongoing, Camellia said, as low interest rates and increasing compliance costs continue to hit trading.
Shares in Camellia were trading flat at 9,500.00 pence midday Thursday.
By Karolina Kaminska; [email protected] @KarolinaAllNews
Copyright 2015 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Related Shares:
Camellia