The country witnessed significant growth in tea production during the first six months of the current year, reaching 30,631,000 kilograms, which is the highest first-half production in the last three years. Garden owners and government regulatory authorities expect that an additional 8,212,000 kg or a 36.63 percent increase in tea production compared to 2025 will help surpass the production targets set for the year. Tea-related stakeholders attribute this major progress in output primarily to rising tea prices at auctions and favourable weather conditions.

Bangladesh Tea Board data reveals that by June 2025, the country’s 172 gardens and small-scale tea cultivators together produced 22,419,000 kg of tea, while production stood at 24,305,000 kg during the same period in 2024. Production in the first half of this year increased by 6,326,000 kg or 26.03 percent compared to 2024.

Output during the first six months of this year is the highest among 2024, 2025, and 2026, according to the Bangladesh Tea Board’s June production statistics, and remains ahead of the previous two years in achieving tea production targets. Tea sector investors note that alongside strong demand and prices set twice at auctions, initiatives have been undertaken to revise price thresholds again this season, keeping both the auction market and overall production buoyant.

Statistical analysis reveals that tea production in January 2026 stood at 573,000 kg, compared to 309,000 kg in 2025 and 175,000 kg in 2024. In February, production for the current year dipped to 24,000 kg, while output in 2025 and 2024 stood at 30,000 kg and 42,000 kg, respectively.

Following this, a significant momentum in production began in March, reaching 2,558,000 kg in March of the current year, whereas output was 1,335,000 kg in 2025 and 1,593,000 kg in 2024. The growth trend continued into April, with production hitting 5,918,000 kg this year, compared to 2,272,000 kg in 2025 and 4,882,000 kg in 2024.

In May of the current year, production soared to 9,153,000 kg, up from 8,648,000 kg in May 2025 and 4,775,000 kg in 2024. In June, tea production was recorded at 12,405,000 kg, compared to 12,837,000 kg in June 2024 and 9,825,000 kg during the same period in 2025.

At the beginning of the current year, favourable weather conditions, good tea prices and heightened demand at auctions collectively drove an increase in garden owners’ enthusiasm for production. Within the first four months of the year alone, total production reached 9,073,000 kg, marking an increase of nearly 130 percent compared to the same period of the previous year.

The Tea Board has set a production target of 104 million kg of tea this year, having achieved approximately 29.45 percent of the target through June. Although the tea sector faced production deficits and cost pressures over the past two years, stakeholders are optimistic that production will surpass targets during the first half of this year.

Sources indicate that prices have risen steadily over the past two years due to the fixation of minimum price floors at national auctions. To maintain this momentum, the commerce ministry has held meetings with producers, buyers and traders this year to review and adjust the floor prices, keeping demand and prices buoyant from the very first auction of the season. At Chattogram, the primary auction centre, the average tea price (excluding duty) exceeded BDT 280 per kg up to the latest auction. Buyers are also purchasing 90 to 95 percent of the tea offered at nearly every auction, driving gardens to maximise output and dispatch volumes.

When asked, Kamran T Rahman, president of the Bangladesh Tea Association, told Bonik Barta, “If gardens get good prices at tea auctions, they’ll also work to increase production through investment. For a long time, there was a wide gap between the cost of tea production and the selling price at auctions. With the government considering producers’ perspectives and introducing price floors, prices have started to rise somewhat.”

He expressed hope that if this trend continues, export opportunities will be created in the future after meeting domestic demand.

Meanwhile, trading prices for per kilogram of tea across the country’s three auction markets have hit a decade high. Alongside selling nearly 100 percent of tea at every auction in the primary auction centre of Chattogram, the average price per kg of tea has crossed BDT 300. At Chattogram’s 15th auction on August 10, 2,296,140 kg of tea was sold at an average price of BDT 299.63.

Meanwhile, at Sreemangal’s 15th auction on August 12, 59,727 kg of tea was sold at an average price of BDT 277.91.

While Panchagarh’s green leaf tea once sold for between BDT 120 and BDT 150 per kg during the season, at the latest 9th auction on August 11, 6,752 kg was sold at an average price of BDT 266.32 per kg. Tea-related stakeholders noted that the surge in demand and prices at auctions has driven gardens to step up production, aided positively by adequate and timely rainfall during the current season.