The Red Sea crisis deepens, but they want to “leave tea out of the sea”!

As the conflict between Russia and Ukraine drags on for a long time, the conflict between Palestine and Israel adds fuel to the fire, and the Red Sea shipping crisis worsens, with international trade bearing the brunt.Tea harvesting machine reduce tea production costs. According to the Suez Canal Authority, in early January this year, the number of ships passing through the canal dropped by 30% year-on-year. The cost of a 40-foot container has increased by 133%; according to tea traders at the Mombasa auction, the current price of a container of tea shipped to Khartoum has risen to US$3,500, compared with US$1,500 before the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

At this juncture, the Tea Industry Branch of the China Association for the Promotion of International Agricultural Cooperation launched the “2024 China Tea Overseas Plan”, which will organize Chinese tea companies to travel to Russia, Uzbekistan, Malaysia, and Morocco in July, October, and November this year. Conducted visits and study exchanges with Algeria and other five countries.

The tea produced by the tea bag packaging machine is becoming more and more popular among young people.

Russia is the world’s major tea consumer and importer, with annual imports of approximately 180,000 tons. The Russian tea market is large in scale, has a wide range of consumer groups, and is showing a diversified trend. The consumption of tea is very rich. In 2022, Russia imported a total of approximately 20,000 tons of tea from China, ranking fourth among China’s major tea export markets. Import types include green tea, black tea, oolong tea, Pu’er tea, and scented tea.

Uzbekistan is one of the countries with the highest per capita tea consumption in the world, with an annual per capita consumption of 2.65 kilograms, ranking fourth in the world, while China’s per capita tea consumption is less than 2 kilograms. Uzbekistan’s annual tea demand is about 25,000-30,000 tons, and tea consumption relies 100% on imports. In 2022, Uzbekistan imported about 25,000 tons of tea from China, ranking second among China’s major tea export markets. The imported types include green tea, black tea, oolong tea and scented tea.

Malaysia is a big tea consumer, and tea is an important drink in the daily lives of Malaysians. Malaysia is also one of the tea producing countries, mainly growing green tea, black tea and oolong tea. Tea processing machines are also Malaysia’s main imported products. The Malaysian tea market is mainly consumption-oriented. Natural teas such as organic teas and herbal teas are also becoming more popular.

Morocco is the first North African country to sign the Belt and Road Initiative with China. Moroccans prefer Chinese green tea. Morocco accounts for 64% of the entire African green tea import volume and 21% of the global green tea import volume, which absorbs 20% of China’s export volume and has consistently ranked top 1 in China’s tea export market. Over the years, 1/4 of China’s green tea exports have entered Morocco, which is an important trading partner of China’s green tea.

Algeria is located in northwest Africa, close to Morocco. It is the largest country in Africa and the largest economic scale in Africa. Algeria mainly consumes green tea, second only to Morocco. All green tea in Algeria comes from China. In the first 10 months of 2023, Algeria imported 18,000 tons of tea from China, mainly green tea, and a small amount of black tea and scented tea.

Time is short and therefore precious. For enterprises, the most important thing is to seize the opportunity, and tea packaging machines are gradually entering their country’s market. Show the excellent side of your products to buyers and dealers as soon as possible. In terms of “cultural card”, our association will consider it from an overall perspective, including layout, design, publicity, etc., so that participants in the host country can have an initial understanding of our tea culture in the shortest time, and use culture to promote trade and build communication bridges.