Weather drags Kenyan tea production lower
Kenya, the world's biggest exporter of black tea, has seen its January tea output fall by 14% from a year earlier on poorer weather. Output from the East African country declined to 25.5 million kilograms from 29.7 million kilograms in 2008. Dry, sunny weather dampened output east of the Rift valley by more than a third to 10 million kilograms. The decline in Kenyan crops boosted average prices to a record $2.33 a kilogram last year from $1.76 a kilogram in 2007.