Kenya's tea export earnings drop 16% in 2019 on low prices

Kenya's earnings from tea exports dropped by 16.4% last year to 117 billion shillings ($1.16 billion) as production edged down and average prices of the commodity slid, the industry regulator said on Friday.

The East African nation, which is the biggest exporter of black tea in the world, produced 458.85 million kilograms of the crop, down 6.95% from the previous year, the regulator Tea Directorate said in a report.

"Lower earnings were attributed to low auction prices," the regulator said.

The average price of Kenyan tea fell to $2.21 per kilogramme during the period, from $2.58 per kg a year earlier, the Tea Directorate said, attributing the drop to an oversupply.

Production is likely to increase marginally this year along with export earnings, it said. Some of the main buyers of Kenyan tea include Pakistan, Egypt and Britain.

($1 = 100.7500 Kenyan shillings)

(Reporting by Omar Mohammed and Duncan Miriri, editing by Louie Heavens and Barbara)