Kenyan tea manufacturers in the red on global oversupply
Kenya's Williamson Tea and Kapchorua Tea both reported significant annual losses due to global oversupply of black tea, which has been putting pressure on prices. Williamson reported a full-year loss of roughly $2 million compared with a profit of about $7 million a year earlier. Kapchorua also found itself in the red with a loss amounting to $250,000 compared to a profit of over $1 million the previous year. The companies claim the losses, which affect both large companies and small farmers in Kenya, are due to an oversupply of tea caused by favorable weather conditions in recent years. They have, however, predicted that prices will recover on lower output.