Kenya's tea industry faces numerous threats
According to industry insiders, Kenya's tea sector is undergoing an unusually difficult time. Majors threats include adverse weather, piracy and political instability in some of its north Africa and Middle East markets. Kenya, the world's biggest exporter of black tea, has experienced very poor rainfall these past few months and the outlook for May remains the same. Oil price increases have affected operational costs, which have gone up by 10%, whereas the threat of piracy in the Indian Ocean has lengthened the time taken to deliver cargoes, further raising costs. Finally, instability in Egypt and several other large importing countries has impacted exports. Due to these factors, Kenyas tea output may decline by as much as 12% in 2011, according to the nations tea board.