Indonesia's tea exports are expected to increase by 10%

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesian tea exports are projected to increase by about 10 percent this year to 130,000 tons although local production will stay at last year's level of about 165,000 tons, according to the Association of Indonesian Tea Producers.

The association's chairman Rachmat Badruddin said here on Wednesday that many tea growers planned to increase their exports to benefit from the rise in the tea price in the world market.

He said that the international tea price surged to an average of US$1.17 per kilogram last year from between $1.05 and $1.07 per kilogram in 1999.

Rachmat estimated that the price could further increase this year on the back of a tighter supply.

"We hope that this year will be much better than 2000 for the local tea producers," he said during the opening session of this year's tea auction.

Last year Indonesia produced 165,000 tons, of which 80 percent was exported to the United States, Britain, Russia, Europe, Pakistan and Middle East countries.

Rachmat also disclosed that the association had sent a fact- finding team to Sri Lanka and India, the world's two major tea producers, to study their tea marketing system.

"We want to improve our marketing system," he said, adding that the association also planned to use an online-marketing system to expand the market of the country's tea products.

The improvement in the marketing system was aimed at achieving greater benefit both for producers and buyers as well, he said.

Although this year sees a more promising outlook in the world tea market, Rachmat warned that the enactment of the regional economy law this year, which will give more power to the provincial administration to manage their economy, could become a threat to the tea industry.

He said if there were no clear guidelines on the implementation of regional autonomy, the provincial economic policy could be counterproductive for business activities with the imposition of various kinds of levies for example.(03)