Tea

Processed leaves of an evergreen bush: an everyday drink whose world price is still found mostly at auctions, not exchanges.

Softs · No. 100

• Not on a critical list
• HHI 2,953 · highly concentrated

In an age of electronic trading, the world's tea is still priced every week by brokers and bidders at auctions.

Chart: Illustration: Tea

Where it comes from

Chart: Map of where it comes from

Tea bushes grow on wet, acid hill slopes, are pruned to waist height and plucked for decades. Leaf must reach a factory within hours. Output was 32.7 Mt of fresh leaf in 2024.

Three things to know

1. China grew almost half the world's tea leaves in 2024 (49.7%), and India 18.8%.
2. Tea's ten-year price range, $2.13 to $3.37/kg, is far narrower than Arabica coffee's $2.66 to $9.05/kg.
3. China, Kenya and Sri Lanka each supplied about a fifth of world tea export value in 2024.

The journey

1. 1 Tea bushesPruned to waist height on hillsides
2. 2 PluckingLeaf picked every week or two
3. 3 WitheringWithered, rolled or cut by CTC
4. 4 OxidationOxidised for black, steamed for green
5. 5 AuctionGraded and sold at weekly auctions
6. 6 PackingBlended and packed for shops

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