Tea Price

 

Tea refers to an aromatic beverage made from hot or boiling water and the leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant, an evergreen shrub indigenous to countries like China and India.

 

Quick Overview of Tea

✔️Description of tea
✔️The history of tea
✔️The production of tea
Trading tea as a commodity
Factors influencing the price of tea as a commodity
The uses of tea
Interesting facts about tea

 

Description of tea

Tea is one of the world’s oldest drinks, and the most consumed drink in the world, after water. Tea has an economic and cultural significance in numerous countries. To honour the worldwide importance of tea, the United Nations (UN) proclaimed 21 May as International Tea Day. A day to be celebrated under the guidance of the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations.

The FAO describes International Tea Day as ‘an opportunity to celebrate the cultural heritage, health benefits, and economic importance of tea while working to make its production sustainable “from field to cup” ensuring its benefits for people, cultures and the environment continue for generations.’

The importance of tea and its key role in the cultures and human communities of some Asian countries are emphasised by the designation of four tea cultivation sites as ‘Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems’ in China, Korea, and Japan by the FAO.

• Features of the Camellia sinensis plant
• It is an evergreen, medium-sized woody shrub that grows to a height of about 1.8 metres.
• Its leaves are normally between 5 to 10 centimetres long. The leaves are shiny, dark green above, oval, with serrated edges, and pointed at the tip.
• The flowers are yellow-white, scented and up to four centimetres in diameter, and containing five to eight petals.
• The plant’s fruits are brownish-green, containing one to four spherical or flattened seeds.
• The following active substances are, amongst others, present in the Camellia sinensis plant:
• Catechins are antioxidant compounds, neutralising harmful molecules, referred to as free radicals.
• Caffeine is a stimulant.
• L-theanine, a non-protein amino acid, contributes to the characteristic aroma and flavour of tea.

The Camellia sinensis plant comprises two varieties that are used to produce tea, namely the Camellia sinensis sinensis, native to China, and the Camellia sinensis assamica, native to the Assam state in north-eastern India.

 

The history of tea

The following are fragments of the use of tea during the years.

China was the first country where tea was established as a popular and common drink. The story goes that in 2737 BCE, the Chinese emperor Shen Nung was sitting beneath a wild tree when some of the leaves of the tree blew into a pot of boiling water that his servant prepared for him. The emperor experienced a warm feeling as he drank the ‘accidentally created drink.’ The wild tree was a Camellia sinensis and the resulting drink was what we now know as tea.

The popularity of tea as a drink in China grew rapidly and became unarguably established as the national drink of China under the Tang dynasty (618 – 906 CE).

The Dutch introduced tea to Europe when they shipped the first consignment of tea from China via the island of Java to the Netherlands, from where it spread to other countries in western Europe. Although, it remained a drink for the wealthy because of its high price.

England’s love affair with tea started in 1662 when King Charles II married the Portuguese princess Catherine of Braganza. The princess, a tea addict, brought with her a chest of the finest Chinese tea. Her love of tea firstly established the drink as a fashionable Royal beverage, and then among the wealthy classes as a whole.

 

The production of tea

The cultivation of tea provides employment and income to millions of smallholding farmers, who are supplementing larger tea estates in various countries.

• Top tea-producing countries in the world

Tea is commercially produced in more than 60 countries in the world, primarily in Asia. The top ten tea global tea-producing countries include:

• Eight countries in Asia, China, India, Sri Lanka, Türkiye (formerly Turkey), Indonesia, Vietnam, Japan, and Iran. Türkiye is a transcontinental country of which 97 percent of its territory lies in Asia and 3 percent in Europe.
• Kenya in Africa.
• Argentina in South America.

Analysts and statisticians are unanimous in their analyses that China, India, Kenya, and Sri Lanka are the top four global producers of tea, while Japan, Iran, and Argentina are placed in positions eight, nine, and ten, respectively. However, regarding positions five to seven, there are different opinions about which position Vietnam, Türkiye, and Indonesia hold.

The list below, as well as the amounts produced (unless otherwise indicated), are based on information obtained from Farrer’s Tea and Coffee Merchants in the United Kingdom.

 

1. China

It is no surprise that China is the world’s largest tea-producing country. The country produces about 40 percent of the world’s tea, amounting to 2 400 000 metric tonnes (MT) of tea in 2025.

The country is renowned for its multiple types of tea such as black tea, green tea, and yellow tea, which are mainly exported to Europe, the USA, and other countries in Asia.

 

2. India

In 1824, the British introduced the tea crop to India to contest the tea monopoly of China. The effort was eventually successful, making the country the top tea producer for more than a hundred years. However, at the beginning of the twenty-first century, China reclaimed its position as the world’s biggest tea producer.

The country produced 900 000 MT in 2025, cultivated in bulk in locations such as Darjeeling, Kerala, Karnataka, and the state of Assam, which is the biggest tea producer in India, producing approximately 52 percent of the country’s tea.

More than 50 percent of India’s tea production is for domestic use.

 

3. Kenya

Kenya, a country in East Africa, is the world’s third biggest tea producer, producing over 400 MT in 2025, according to Future Generation Company (FGC), one of the biggest global tea suppliers and Vietnam’s biggest tea company.

The tea crop was introduced to Kenya in 1903 and is grown in the country’s fertile highlands in the Nyambene Hills, the Kericho region, and the Nandi Hills at the edge of the Great Rift Valley in southwestern Kenya.

It is estimated that more than 500 000 small-scale farmers cultivate tea in the country.

Kenya is regarded as the top black tea-producing country in the world.

 

4. Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka, known as Ceylon until 1972, produced about 300 000 MT in 2025, mainly in the country’s central mountains.

The country is famous for its ‘pure Ceylon tea.’ The British introduced the tea crop in 1867 and currently, tea production accounts for 2 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).

 

5. Türkiye

This transcontinental country produced about 175 000 MT of tea in 2025 and the estimation is that its tea production will grow to more than 200 000 MT in 2025.

Türkiye’s tea production is located in the northeastern Black Sea region, including the Rize Province which produces more than two-thirds of the country’s tea, including the well-known Rize tea.

Surprisingly, the nation of Türkiye drinks more tea per person than any other nation on earth.

 

6. Indonesia

Indonesia, a country in South East Asia, produces approximately 150 000 MT of tea annually. The tea crop was introduced in the 1700s by the Dutch East India Company during the colonial rule of the Dutch government.

Black and green teas from Indian Assam varieties are mostly grown in plantations in the province of East Java.

Teas from Indonesia are world-renowned for their high levels of catechin.

 

7. Vietnam

Vietnam’s tea production mainly takes place in its northern provinces, producing in the region of 117 000 MT of tea in 2025 and expected to increase considerably in 2025.

The country’s tea production includes varieties of green, black, and white tea, as well as some speciality teas like lotus tea which is flavoured with flowers of the lotus plant.

 

8. Japan

Legend has it that tea was introduced to Japan as early as the sixth century by Buddhist monks. The country produced approximately 89 000 MT of tea in 2025 on 43 000 hectares of tea plantations.

Japan’s most popular tea exports are Green Sencha and Green Matcha, two varieties of ceremonial tea.

Tea has an extremely large cultural significance in Japan, making tea the country’s most popular drink and most of the tea produced in Japan is actually consumed domestically.

 

9. Iran

Iran, the only Middle East country among the top 10 tea producers, produced 84 000 MT of tea in 2025. The cultivation of tea started in 1899 and the country’s first modern tea factory was established in 1934.

Tea crops are mainly cultivated in the Caspian Sea region of Gilan.

 

10. Argentina

Argentina is the biggest tea producer in the Americas, with an estimated annual production of between 70 000 MT and 90 000 MT.

Hybridised black and green teas are cultivated primarily in provinces such as Misiones, Formosa, Chaco, and Tucuman, to name a few.

Argentina is famous for Yerba Mate, the most popular tea in the country. Yerba Mate is earthy and bitter in taste profile.

 

• Tea processing

The wide range of teas implies different tea-making processes. This article will only focus on the processing of black tea and green tea, mostly based on information obtained from a blog of the Red Blossom Tea Company®, located in San Francisco, in the state of California, USA. Quotations (including accentuations in the quotations) in this section are from the blog of the Red Blossom Tea Company®.

Furthermore, tea processing will be described in broad terms.

Tea processing includes the following steps:

1. Growing

The growing environment and growing conditions play a significant role in the flavour of the finished product.

Changes in soil and climate ‘can subtly change the leaf, and its resulting flavour in the cup.’

 

2. Harvesting

The majority of tea leaves are harvested by hand, allowing you to pick the young, premium tea leaves which contain high quantities of caffeine and antioxidants.

Mass producers also apply mechanical picking, depending on the tea variety. The leaves are sheared from the top of the tea plant and simultaneously chopped. During this method, more surface of the tea leaves is exposed, releasing bold, dark flavours. Contrarily, whole leaves usually do not release ‘their fullest flavors until they have been brewed more than once.’

 

3. Withering

The withering process reduces the water content of the leaves by 50 to 70 percent, depending on the tea variety.

The leaves can be withered in different ways, such as outdoors on fabric or bamboo mats in the sun, or in dark, hot rooms in which humidity and temperature are monitored and controlled.

 

4. Bruising

The next step in the processing of tea is the bruising process in which the leaves are ‘rolled, twisted, or otherwise crushed.’

The goal of leaf bruising is to break down cell walls in the leaves, re-activating oxidation enzymes, and facilitating the next step in the processing of tea, oxidising.

 

5. Oxidising

Oxidising, commonly called the browning process, refers to an enzymatic reaction that turns the tea leaves brown, similar to a banana peel or cut apple.

During controlled oxidation, a meticulously controlled process, the conditions for oxidation are manipulated by raising the heat in the room, changing humidity, and physically breaking the leaf epidermis.

The ‘browning process is the primary differentiating factor between different styles of tea. Green tea crafting skips these steps entirely, creating a tea that is by definition, unoxidized, and therefore still green in color. Black tea is defined as fully oxidized, without any green color left to the leaf.’

 

6. Drying

The final step in tea processing is drying, aiming to reduce the water content of the tea leaves to levels as low as 3 to 6 percent. This step will cease all enzymatic activity, creating a shelf-stable tea leaf.

The method of heating can significantly change the flavour of the tea. For instance, charcoal roasting, infuses a noticeably rich flavour to the tea leaves. Contrarily, the drying can also be really gentle, avoiding any changes in flavour.

Finally, the dried tea is packaged and shipped to numerous destinations all over the world.

 

Trading tea as a commodity

While approximately 75 percent of tea produced globally is consumed domestically, tea is widely traded and exported as a commodity.

Tea is classified as an international agricultural commodity. However, unlike most agricultural commodities, tea is not a raw product. ‘Instead, tea markets standardise specific blends and taste profiles and ship these blends to companies for processing into many products – most notably tea bags,’ according to the Tea & Coffee Trade Journal.

There are also trade platforms set up in producing countries that provide efficient tools for the sale of commodity teas (as packed bulk teas or tea blends for tea bags) into mainstream tea markets.

In addition, some multinational tea packers source large quantities directly from their own plantations and blend their commodity teas to be sold (packed or in tea bags) on a mass scale on the tea markets.

Contrary to commodity tea, speciality tea – created to produce a unique flavour and aroma profile – is not a commodity because it is not interchangeable.

Currently, there are no tea futures contracts to trade tea as a commodity. Reasons cited for this situation are, amongst others:

• Tea production is fairly predictable.
• There is not enough variation in tea prices.
• Tea is a non-standard product compared to other soft commodities.

 

 

Factors influencing the price of tea as a commodity

Similar to other soft commodities, the price of tea is determined by the law of supply and demand which can influence the price positively or negatively.

Factors that can influence the price of tea as a commodity are, amongst others:

• Rising labour expenses.
• Strikes and protests by disgruntled labourers.
• Climate change and unpredictable
• Rising distribution costs, due to significant high crude oil prices.
• Turmoil in top tea producing countries. For example, in July 2025 in Sri Lanka, the fourth largest global tea producer. The main reason was the lack of foreign currency in the country, preventing the country to pay for the import of goods, most crucially food, medicines, fuel, and equipment.

Noteworthy, during the Covid-19 pandemic, tea sales increased considerably due to purchases for in-home consumption, comforting millions around the world during an extremely difficult period.

 

The uses of tea

Tea is primarily used in numerous varieties as a beverage that can have a lasting impact on a person’s health and wellness.

Please note: The remarks about tea and health are solely informative and do not intend to provide any health or medical advice.

Examples of tea varieties are:

• Black tea has a dark colour, a rich flavour, and contains caffeine.

Besides using it as a beverage, black tea can be steamed, cooled, and then pressed on minor cuts, and bruises, relieving pain and reducing swelling. A black tea bath can also reduce inflammation caused by skin rashes.

• Green tea has exceptionally high levels of flavonoids, lowering bad cholesterol and reducing blood clotting.

• White tea has a delicate flavour and is the least processed tea variety.

Flavoured teas, infused with fruit and flower flavours, are also widely consumed.

 

Interesting facts about tea

• Tea contains about half the amount of caffeine as coffee.
• According to Statista, the global consumption of tea amounted to approximately 6.3 billion kilograms in 2025 and is estimated to rise to 6.9 billion kilograms by 2025. Ten years ago, in 2012, the global tea consumption was 4.9 billion kilograms.
• History has it that the tea bag was born by accident. In 1908, Thomas Sullivan, a tea merchant in New York City in the USA, started to send samples of tea to his customers in small bags made of silk. Some of the customers assumed that the bags were supposed to be used in the same way as the metal infusers. Hence, they put the entire bag into the teapot, rather than emptying the contents of the bag.

Sullivan’s customers informed him that the mesh on the silk was too fine. In response, Sullivan developed bags made of gauze, which was the first purpose-made tea bag.

• Heavy tea taxes imposed by the British government on tea exports to its colony in North America during the 1700s led to the infamous Boston Tea Party on 16 December 1773. This ‘party’ refers to the situation when the colonists protested heavily against the high tea taxes when they destroyed an entire shipment of tea sent by the British East India Company in the Boston harbour in Massachusetts.

This event led to the closure of the Boston harbour by the British government, and the arrival of British troops on American soil, marking the beginning of the American War of Independence.

 

Note: This article does not constitute investment, financial, or trading advice. Please obtain the advice of a professional and regulated commodity broker before making trading and investment decisions.