ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka’s tea manufacturing capacity has not been harmed by Cyclone Ditwah, even though some tea-growing areas in the Uva and the Central Province were hit, the Colombo Tea Traders’ Association has said.
Trading activities at the Colombo Tea Auctions will continue, but with a revised calendar, the private sector tea industry body said.
“The damage was largely confined to specific roads, resulting in temporary disruptions to transportation,” it said in a statement.
“Some of the key routes connecting plantations to the city have now been reopened, and transport services are resuming normal operations.”
Harvesting operations are returning to normal, with access roads reopened and temporary access roads built to transport leaf and produce, it said.
Most plantations and smallholder lands in the south, and the main road network were spared from cyclone damage, it said, so harvesting, manufacturing and transportation activities continued.
However, the Tea Auction previously set for the 1st week of December has been rescheduled to the last week of December.
The Kelani River flooding affected some exporters’ offices and warehouses, and an initial assessment has shown that machinery, such as tea bagging machines, are damaged.
“The industry is working tirelessly to restore the damaged machinery and are fully equipped to serve the overseas clients without interruptions and assure timely delivery as usual.”
The association includes representatives from The Planters’ Association of Ceylon, Sri Lanka Tea Factory Owners’ Association, Colombo Brokers Association, Tea Exporters’ Association, Sri Lanka Federation of Tea Smallholdings Development Societies and Tea Small Holding Development Authority. (Colombo/Dec8/2025)