According to the latest data provided by the Trade and Export Promotion Center (TEPC), the country exported 10,708 tons of tea worth Rs 2.04 billion during the review period. In 2010/11, Nepal had exported 9,198 tons of tea worth Rs 1.57 billion.[break]
Export figures of 2012/13 are due in January. “The demand for Nepali tea from international market is increasing with each passing year,” Ishwari Prasad Ghimire, executive director of TEPC, said. “Tea plantation area and production is increasing accordingly.”
Nepal mainly exports two types of tea -- Cut Tear and Crush (CTC) and Orthodox.
Raman Prasad Pathak, executive director of National Tea and Coffee Development Board (NTCDB), said more than 80 percent of CTC tea produced in Nepal is exported to India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. “Remaining 20 percent is consumed in the domestic market,” he added.
There are 26 major CTC tea processing factories in Nepal and all of them are in Jhapa district.
“The demand for orthodox tea is very high in the international market and we are expanding cultivation area accordingly,” Pathak added.
More than 90 percent of orthodox tea produced in the country is exported to countries like Japan, China, Germany and the US, among others.
According to NTCDB, there are around 29 orthodox tea processing factories in Nepal. They are scattered in Ilam, Dhankuta and Panchthar districts. Of them, three factories produce green tea.
Tea is cultivated in 18,149 hectares in different parts of eastern Nepal, according to the NTCDB.
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