East African tea exports to Iran are expected to rise more than sixfold by 2019, as trade ties with the Persian Gulf nation normalize after western sanctions were lifted, the head of a regional tea traders’ association said. “Shipments from states, including Kenya, the world’s biggest exporter of black tea, may climb to 20,000 tons within the next four years from a record low of 3,200 tons last year,” said Edward Mudibo, managing director of the East African Trade Association, Bloomberg reported. Iran is among the world’s 10 biggest tea-consuming nations, with consumption estimated at 83,400 tons in 2013, according to Food and Agriculture Organization statistics. The anti-Iran economic sanctions posed “payment challenges” to East African tea exporters from Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi, Mudibo said.
