Tea prices fixed in Phongsaly
Tea prices fixed in Phongsaly
Tea prices in Phongsaly provincial markets in the northernmost part of Laos will not experience fluctuations this year after prices were fixed recently, a senior trade official confirmed on Monday.
Phongsaly grows the largest amount of organic tea anywhere in the country and this commercial crop is famous throughout the province. More than 2,600 hectares of land in Phongsaly are now dedicated to growing tea.
The Deputy Director of the provincial Industry and Commerce Department, Mr Ounkeo Kong, said that village authorities, who represent tea growers, have worked with buyers to set prices for the two harvesting seasons.
The agreed price from March to May thi s year is 5,000 kip per kilogramme for green tea leaves that are collected from smaller bushes and 20,000 kip per kilogramme for the leaves from the big trees more than 400 years old.
From May to October, the price is 3,000 kip per kilogramme for leaves that are picked from the smaller bushes and 10,000 kip per kilogramme for leaves sourced from the big older trees.
The price of tea leaves will drop from May to October because the quality of tea leaves will be lower due to the onset of the rainy season.
At present, five investors are authorised by the provincial authorities to encourage farmers to grow more tea and set up factories to process tea leaves for export. Three of them are from China, one is from Malaysia and another is living in the country.
Local farmers will pick the green tea leaves and sell them to these factories according to the prices agreed above.
Phongsaly province exports 85 percent of its tea and the remainder supplies the domestic market. The major export market for tea from Phongsaly is China, which is one of the biggest tea drinking countries in the world.
This year, the provincial authorities have set the export target at 400 tonnes of dried leaf tea, a slight increase from the 350 tonnes last year, according to the provincial Industry and Commerce Department.
Officials said that whether exports reach the target or not is largely dependent on the weather, but last year they enjoyed favourable conditions and were able to achieve their export targets.
Over the past six months, more than 38 tonnes of dried tea leaves have been exported to China, driving total export volumes to more than 67 billion kip, up 43 percent compared to the same period the previous year.
Back in 2007 the price of dried tea leaves from Laos hit a high of 50,000 kip per kilogramme because of stronger market demand in China.
This was a significant factor in driving the boom in tea cultivation in the province. Currently, most tea bushes are grown in Boun Neua, Phongsaly, Boun Tai and Yod-ou districts.
vientiane times
