Jan-Feb Tea Report: 2021 China Exports & US Imports

The most recent data from the China Tea Marketing Association and the US Census Bureau (GATS) was recently published regarding China exports and US imports of tea for January - February 2021.

CHINA EXPORTS

China has combined reporting for the months of January and February.

HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE

• A 25% increase in overall export volume relative to 2020
• A 30% increase in green tea export volume compared to the same period last year
• A 12% increase in black tea export volume vs Jan-Feb of 2020

Also of note- China Customs has updated the import and export tax codes it uses to include new categories for pu'er and dark teas. Export volumes of these teas are relatively small.

SHARE OF EXPORT VOLUME:

• Green: 82.3%
• Black: 9.3%
• Wulong: 5.8%
• Flower (incl jasmine green tea): 1.7%
• Pu'er: 0.7%
• Dark tea: 0.2%

US IMPORTS

HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE

• Black teas averaged $3.29/KG for 446 MT with declared value of $1.47 MM
• Black teas saw a 11.5% decline over January, but a 20.8% increase over Feb 2020
• Green teas averaged $4.75/KG for 348 MT with declared value of $1.65 MM
• Green teas fell 28.7% from January, but gained 56.8% over Feb 2020 volumes

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