India's slice of world tea exports shrinks
According to the Indian Tea Association, India's share of world tea exports dropped by 2 percent from 15% to 13% between 2005 and 2009. High labor costs, heavy dependence on weather and remoteness of tea estates from ports were identified as the main causes. In the same period, China and Kenya continued to expand their tea exports. China, the world's largest tea producer, saw its share grow from 16 to 19 percent, whereas Kenya's chunk increased form 19 to 22 percent. To counter the trend, India aims to improve the quality of its tea and increase the production of orthodox and organic tea. The major buyers of Indian tea are Iraq and CIS countries (21% each), followed by United Arab Emirates (13%) and the UK (11%). The US and Canada account for 4% of exports.