BUJUMBURA (Reuters) - Burundi's tea export earnings fell 38 percent in October compared with the previous month partly due to speculation that output from the region will rise, a tea board official said on Tuesday.
The country's state-run OTB tea board said 375,807 kg had been exported in October worth $980,049, down sharply from 562,306 kg worth $1,594,299 in September.
"Buyers were reluctant for fear that there will be a lot of tea on the market because of the return of rain in the east Africa region," said senior OTB official Remy Ndayininahaze.
"This has of course had a negative impact on our prices and earnings," he told Reuters.
Ndayininahaze said the average export price was $2.61 per kg in October, down from $2.84 in September.
The tiny central African country exports 80 percent of its tea to a regional weekly auction in the Kenyan port of Mombasa.
OTB forecasts 2009 overall earnings at $15 million against $13.7 million in 2008.
The board projects output to reach 7,500 tonnes this year, up from 7,000 tonnes in 2008 mainly due to good rains and the increased use of fertilisers on farms.
Tea is Burundi's second foreign exchange earner after coffee. It supports some 300,000 smallholder farmers in the country of 8 million people.
Source:af.reuters.com/
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