Tea planters welcome Govt’s move on import duty hike

Tea planters, on Wednesday, welcomed the govt.  proposal to raise the basic customers duty on tea imports to 35% from 15%, saying the move was likely to improve the market sentiment.  It is a strp in the right direction.  Tea planters blamed impots for falling tea prices at auctions in India.  “We expect better prices at autions because imports will come down and sentiment will improve.  India improved 8.93 million kg of tea in 98-99 and 0.58 million in 96-97, date from the federal commerce ministry showed.  Of 98-99 imports, 4.36 million kg came from Indonesia, 2.51 million kg from Turkey and 0.54 million kg from Sri Lanka.  Data for 99-00 is not available but planters estimate imports could be at least 18 million kg and some said it could be as high as 30-40 million.  Tea imports have increased a lot in 99-00.

Market Update
(Others)