Sri Lanka's May tea output falls 8.4 pct yr/yr

COLOMBO, June 20 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka's tea production fell
8.4 percent in May from a year earlier, the fourth straight
month of lower output, state-run tea board data showed on
Wednesday, and analysts attributed the decline to irregular
rain.
Sri Lanka's May tea output was 30.81 million kg compared
with 33.65 million kg in the same month a year ago.
Production in the first five months dropped 3.8 percent to
135.63 million kg from 140.92 million compared with the same
period in 2011.
High grown tea output, which accounts for about a fourth of
production, fell as much as 18.4 percent in May amounting for 59
percent of the total fall.
"High grown continue to be badly affected due to the
irregular weather pattern," said Anil Cooke, head of Asia Siyaka
Commodities, a tea brokering firm.
"It's the inability to go about normal agricultural
practices because of the irregular rain fall."
The tea board expects 330 million kg output for the full
year, slightly higher than last year's 328.37 million kg, and
sees 2012 export revenue at a record high, surpassing last
year's $1.5 billion, due to higher prices.
Output hit a record 331.43 million kg in 2010.
Revenue from the island-nation's top agricultural export
commodity fell 11.7 percent to $421.1 million in the first four
months of 2012 compared with the previous year, central bank
data showed.
Analysts say the earnings outlook for 2012 is unclear due to
a possible dip in exports to Iran, which buys a fifth of Sri
Lanka's tea directly, as banks have been reluctant to finance
the trade fearing consequences from impending U.S. sanctions on
Iran.
Other countries in the Middle East are also major buyers,
but political turmoil may limit their appetite for Sri Lankan
tea, traders say.
Tea is one of the $59 billion economy's main foreign
currency earners, along with remittances, garment exports and
tourism.
Following table shows Sri Lanka's May tea output (in kg):

May Jan-May
2012 2011 2012 2011
High Gr 7,369,693 9,033,670 31,942,304 36,262,201
Medium Gr 5,586,842 6,005,294 23,446,025 23,221,780
Low Gr 17,856,458 18,607,711 80,240,510 81,435,109
Total 30,812,993 33,646,675 135,628,839 140,919,090
($1 = 132.2000 Sri Lanka rupees)
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(Reporting by Ranga Sirilal; Editing by Shihar Aneez and Robert
Birsel)