Tea production in Bangladesh reached 9.07 million kilograms in the first four months of 2026, a 130 percent increase on the same period last year. Favourable weather and stronger auction prices, lifted by robust demand and firmer price levels, have spurred growers to expand output. Auction sales have also risen sharply alongside production.

The Bangladesh Tea Board has set a 2026 production target of 104 million kg. Output fell short in the preceding two years, when auction prices dipped below production costs and growers focused on containing losses rather than expanding volume. That changed midway through 2025, after the board revised a floor price imposed the year before. The adjustment revived auction momentum and pushed up the average price by year-end. Growers entered 2026 with renewed attention to production.

Tea Board data show the January to April period’s output of 9.07 million kg compares with 3.94 million kg a year earlier — a production increase of approximately 5.12 million kg. April alone produced 5.91 million kg, a rise of 3.64 million kg over April 2025.

Irregular but favourable rainfall across Chattogram and Sylhet from late March through April drove much of the gain. The sector now expects a positive full-year result.

Monthly figures underscore the contrast. In January this year, production stood at 573,000 kg, up from 309,000 kg in January last year. February, the leanest month, produced only 24,000 kg, down from 30,000 kg the previous year. March delivered 2.55 million kg against 1.33 million kg in 2025.

Bangladesh’s tea season typically accelerates from May. Output reaches 10 to 15 million kg a month from July onward, before declining as rainfall tapers off in November. February, when estates close for maintenance, marks the annual trough.

Mohammad Jahangir Alam, coordinator of the Udalia tea garden, said Bangladesh’s tea output had been on an upward trajectory for years, but adverse weather, slack domestic demand and falling prices had discouraged many estates from expanding production to avoid deepening losses. “Now that auction prices have improved, everyone has raised output, which is good news for the sector,” he told Bonik Barta.

Stronger auction returns could allow growers to fund plantation expansion in line with Tea Board guidance, Alam added. He urged the government to step up support for investment facilities alongside regular garden maintenance.

Market data bear out the recovery. Both sales volumes and prices are climbing across the country’s auction centres. The 2026–27 auction season opened on April 27 with Chattogram, which handles 98 percent of Bangladesh’s tea trade, fetching an average BDT 274 a kilogramme. Sreemangal averaged BDT 267 and Panchagarh BDT 232.

At Chattogram’s June 8 auction, 2.66 million kg went under the hammer and more than 90 percent sold at BDT 273 a kg. The first five auctions of the season shifted 8.07 million kg at an average BDT 273.31. Sreemangal sold 131,332 kg across its first four auctions at BDT 254.45 per kg on average, while Panchagarh moved 92,266 kg in its first three at BDT 236.85.

Tea Board officials trace the turnaround through pricing. The average stood at just BDT 171 per kg in 2023–24. A floor price lifted it to BDT 202 in 2024–25, though that remained well below average production cost. A revised floor price in mid‑2025 then pushed the average to BDT 245. With prices holding, traders expect profitable returns on both production and marketing this year.

Yasmin Parveen Tibriji, the Tea Board’s member for finance and planning, cautioned against attributing the output surge solely to the floor price. “Gardens have focused on producing quality tea to recover their costs,” she told Bonik Barta. “Alongside board monitoring, domestic demand for quality tea has risen, and that has encouraged higher production.” If quality standards hold, she said, Bangladeshi tea could regain ground in domestic and international markets alike.