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Cost of a cuppa set to rocket

edesignuk

edesignuk

Moderator emeritus
Original poster
Mar 25, 2002
19,232
2
London, England
The United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation has warned the price of tea will "jump to a record high" following droughts in India, Kenya and Sri Lanka, which have hit production hard.

According to the Financial Times, the loss of yield will exacerbate a 2008 deficit which saw demand at 3.85m tonnes, while production trailed at 3.78m tonnes.

The biggest threat to Brit builders' pockets comes from the biggest exporter Sri Lanka, where output will fall to an estimated seven-year low. The effects of the drought are compounded by producers "cutting the use of expensive fertiliser".

In Kenya, meanwhile, a delayed “long rains” season - which normally begins in March and runs to May - has provoked a 15 per cent rise in prices since December. Tea at the weekly auctions in Mombasa now goes for $3.40 a kilogram, amid a Tea Board of Kenya forecast that the country's 2009 production would fall five per cent over 2008.

The latest Kenyan price hike follows last year's rise to $3.10 a kilogram, "almost 11 per cent higher than in 2007", and representing "the highest annual average since at least 1993".

To complete the gloomy picture, the Financial Times notes that Indian production crashed by around 35 per cent in the first quarter of 2009, compared with Q1 2008. Droughts in Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu are to blame, the paper concludes.
Click to expand...
The Register.

ARGH! :eek:

[panic] What will we do!? WHAT WILL WE DO!!!??
 
Blimey e, calm down! You're British – stiff upper lip in the face of adversity and all that.

All we need to do is what we do in the face of any calamity – just pop the kettle on and have a nice cup of...

:eek:

[panic] What will we do!? WHAT WILL WE DO!?
 
I just hope once they're done talking about all the other nonsense the members of the G20 turn their attention to this most pressing of matters.

This will not stand!
 
This would never have happened if we hadn't let
union_jack.gif
The Empire™
union_jack.gif
go…

*Waves Flag*

"Land of Hope and Glory…
Mother of the…"
 
edesignuk said:
I just hope once they're done talking about all the other nonsense the members of the G20 turn their attention to this most pressing of matters.

This will not stand!
Click to expand...
Now you have a reason to join the G20 protestants. Just paint a sign and march on! :p
 
In reaction to this news I have resorted to stealing tea bags from my colleagues at work whilst they are away on Easter Breaks :D
 
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