Darjeeling Prices Decline as Flood Waters Rise in Assam

Tea workers near Jorhat, Assam float their plucked leaves to a nearby factory on high ground. (Photo by Pullock Dutta)

Two tea damaging trends are converging in Northern India.

Heavy monsoon rains this week and last led to unusuallywidespread flooding in Assam while northern reaches of the country are experiencingunusually cool, wet weather.

Tea producers in Darjeeling, in the Himalayan foothills, sawgood yields in the first flush but now face lower prices as the second flushgets underway. Foreign buyers appear hesitant to make offers for teas that inprevious years were in high demand. Japan was singled out for its “lukewarm”demand, according to press accounts in TheCalcutta Telegraph. The Japanesenormally purchase about 1 million kilograms annually, a quantity down by halfthis year.

PrateekPoddar, director of Poddar HMP Group, owner of Namring garden, told reporters,“There is hardly any demand this year from Japan. Prices are low too. I havenot seen such a situation in a decade.”

Japanbuyers primarily seek out first flush teas that are often blended and sold athigh prices in a green-tea consuming country where black teas are consideredexotic. Darjeeling presents as an oolong in the cup, a prized style favored bylocal connoisseurs.

Atul Asthana, managing director &CEO of Goodricke Group, said “There are many external factors which we cannotcontrol. We are focusing on producing quality tea and hoping that buyers willreturn,” he said, adding that major blenders were absent.

The prices of broken leaf and fannings,which are consumed in the domestic market, and to make tea bags have been hardesthit with prices down an average $1.63 (INR112) per kilogram.  Close to 40% of tea remained unsold in the teaauction, a sign of tepid demand.

The exact reason for the slump inprices, which are down 34% compared to last year, is unknown but  locally attributed to the 108-day strike in2017 that led many retailers to switch from Darjeeling to other tea origins.These include high-grown Sri Lankan teas, Indonesian teas, and those from Nepalwhich are cheaper and have a taste profile very close to the teas produced inthe 87 gardens in Darjeeling.  Productiontotals are expected to fall well below the 8.5 million tons normally harvested.

AssamFlooding

Meanwhile the situation in Assam has worsened. A week ofrains breached lowland barriers and flooded thousands of hectares of tea lands.On Monday major highway NH37 near Kaziranga National Park was still submergedand levees in Guwahati are at capacity to restrain the mighty Brahmaputra Riverwhich continues to rise.

The state government is managing rescue efforts includingrelocation of 2.6 million, according to Chief Secretary of Home and Disaster Management, Kumar SanjayKrishna. Krishna told APNNews the floods had claimed 11lives. There are 20,000 sheltered in 62 temporary relief camps. A total of2,168 villages are inundated and 15 trains have been halted short of theirdestination.  To date 31 of the 33districts in Assam with Jorhat and Sonitpur some of the hardest hit.

There is also concern for the well-being of the Great IndianRhino and other rare animals in the national park, he said. He estimates 70% ofthe Kaziranga National Park is submerged. “The Forest Department is taking allsteps to prevent poaching of animals,” he said.

Source: TheTelegraph India