Sri Lanka’s tea industry is once again demonstrating resilience in the aftermath of Cyclone Ditwah, which brought intense rainfall, flooding, and localized infrastructure damage across parts of the island, killing more than 650 people, many in tea. While the storm disrupted transportation and caused hardship in several tea-growing districts, industry bodies and local authorities report that core tea manufacturing capacity remains intact, and recovery is already underway.
According to the Colombo Tea Traders’ Association (CTTA), the cyclone affected selected tea-growing areas in Uva Province and parts of the Central Province, primarily through road damage and temporary access disruptions. Crucially, the CTTA confirms there has been no loss of tea factory manufacturing capacity. Damage was concentrated on specific plantation access roads, many of which have already been reopened, while temporary routes have been constructed to restore green leaf transport. Harvesting operations are now gradually returning to normal as logistics stabilize.
Local press reports from Daily News, Sunday Observer, and The Island corroborate this assessment, noting that while landslides and flooding temporarily isolated some estates—particularly in Badulla, Haputale, and Nallathanniya—rapid intervention by provincial authorities and estate management limited long-term disruption. Most plantations in the southern low-country tea regions were spared, mainly allowing harvesting, manufacturing, and transport to continue without interruption.
The CTTA also reports that trading at the Colombo Tea Auction continues, albeit on a revised calendar. The auction, originally scheduled for the first week of December, has been rescheduled to the final week of December to ensure uninterrupted cash flow to producers and smallholders. This adjustment is widely viewed as critical for maintaining liquidity across the supply chain during the recovery phase.
Flooding along the Kelani River basin affected a limited number of exporters’ offices and warehouses. While floodwaters have now receded, initial assessments indicate damage to some machinery, including tea bagging equipment. Exporters report that restoration work is progressing quickly and that they remain fully capable of meeting overseas shipment schedules.
Despite the weather-related disruption, Sri Lanka’s tea production remains on a positive trajectory. Total output from January through October 2025 reached 220.97 million kilograms, an increase of 3.32 million kilograms year-on-year, and above comparable production levels in 2023. This reflects both favorable growing conditions earlier in the year and the sector’s capacity to rebound swiftly from shocks.
Relief Efforts Underway
The United Nations has allocated $4.5 million for ongoing relief, focusing on food security, housing, drinking water, education, health, agriculture, and fisheries. Beyond infrastructure recovery, attention has turned to community-level relief, particularly for estate workers and smallholders affected by flooding and landslides. The Sri Lanka Red Cross Society, in coordination with district authorities, has been distributing emergency supplies, while several plantation companies have launched internal relief funds for workers’ families. Industry-linked charities and regional estate welfare trusts are also mobilizing resources to repair housing and access roads in affected tea communities.
The CTTA emphasizes that it continues to work closely with government agencies to resolve remaining bottlenecks through a collaborative and expedited approach. As in past crises, the sector’s coordinated structure—linking producers, traders, exporters, and regulators—has proven essential.
Sri Lanka’s tea industry has faced adversity before, and this episode is no exception. With factories operating, auctions continuing, exports moving, and relief efforts underway, the sector remains confident in its ability to supply “Ceylon Tea” to global markets without interruption, while supporting the communities at the heart of the industry.
Colombo Tea Traders’ Association Assesses Damage and Remains Optimistic About Future
The legendary resilience of Sri Lanka’s tea industry is evident as the Emerald Isle of the Indian Ocean recovers from Cyclone Ditwah. The cyclone formed in unusually warm waters (28-30 degrees Celsius) southeast of Sri Lanka. The slow-moving storm, with sustained winds of 45 miles per hour, released 19 to 21 inches (490 to 540 mm) of rain over 72 hours, causing landslides in parts of the central highlands and severe flooding across a wide area of the 150-mile-wide island where rainfall exceeded 300 mm (12 inches).
Joining us today to discuss the storm’s impact is Anil Cooke, CEO of Asia Siyaka Commodities, who currently chairs the Colombo Tea Traders Association’s Ceylon Tea Road Map 2030 Initiative. He is a professional tea taster, an international judge, the Director of the World Tea Master Cup, and a tea marketer throughout his 40+ years in the industry.
Listen to the interview
Dan Bolton: Could you give me a rundown on how last Friday’s cyclone affected the tea industry?
Anil Cooke: I’d like to start by focusing on what is working in the industry. This cyclone that hit us came in from the east, moved across the island, and up to the north, and traveled towards the south Indian coast. Given the topography’s uniqueness, some parts of the south remained relatively unharmed, even as the winds and heavy rains lashed the central hill area. None of the tea auction warehouses were harmed. Not a single roof was blown away, nor did flood waters reach any of them. So all the tea that is away, cataloged, and awaiting sale is safe and dry and ready to go out to the world as the auctions are conducted. So that’s an important aspect. And the second is that the auctions are being conducted online, so we have power and Wi-Fi access. There’s been no disruption in the immediate urban areas where the key companies operate. Out of strategic thinking, the Colombo Tea Traders’ Association and the Sri Lanka Tea Board decided not to hold an auction last week, and the auction will be held on Monday, which means the full range of teas that were due to be sold is available. At the start, we had issues with lorries not being able to come down due to Earth slips and roads being washed away, and culverts being damaged internally and on bridges, as well as damage to the main roads. That was primarily in the high-growth areas. Almost all of the low country remains untouched. There was heavy rain, which slowed down growth and caused the usual climate-related disruption to everyday routine. But by and large, the Low Countries, which account for more than 60% of the national harvest, remain untouched. As we climb up towards the mid grows, first on the eastern slopes, and then on the western slopes, we found quite a bit of damage to the delivery network. Some roads were damaged, and, interestingly, none of the tea factories were. So all tea factories can resume manufacturing because almost all of them have generators and are capable of manufacturing. So those high-grown tea factories that are part of regional plantation companies have an additional advantage: the leaf can move to a neighboring factory within the company’s greater cluster. So I’m not saying things are perfect and everything is okay, but it doesn’t mean that the tea industry has imploded and everything has come to a grinding halt. It’s definitely not the case.
And those of you around the world who are waiting for your shipments of Ceylon tea, yes, there will be a disruption, because the port closed for a few days when the winds were too strong, and the port has resumed work, and there’s a bit of a backlog, and ships are beginning to call on Colombo. I’m not a shipping expert, but I know for sure that cargo is moving out of Sri Lanka to more than 100 countries worldwide. So that’s the positive side of it. Unfortunately, Sri Lanka has a lot of practice dealing with crises. Years. So we have organizations built with mechanisms to address issues like this. We’ve been helping each other. The Tea Traders Association is meeting right now to plan the following steps to keep this industry going without disruption. And the news we got last night is that we have decided to hold an extra auction the week before Christmas. So on the 30th of December, there would be an additional sale that we had not scheduled, which would suck up the volume that was due this week. It will be available to keep cash flows going for the tea producers, and then the regular auctions will continue through January. Would take place. Remember that Sri Lanka is always in freedom, and the dry, cold weather that comes in on the western side, the Western dry season will come in soon, in December, and going into January, all the way to March. So that season will be on track. There’s no reason for any disruption to it. Meanwhile, we have a lot of work to do as a country to get our infrastructure back on track for the free movement of goods, and that will require the government to step in. But the stakeholders are up and running, and we are determined to retain the trust and the relationship we have with our buyers around the world, and we will deliver, as we have in the past.
Dan: Last spring, Chinese growers and this fall, Indian tea growers experienced similar bouts of torrential rainfall, leading to mudslides and deaths. Will you describe the extent of damage?
Anil: Dan, tragically, the number of deaths is 627 [latest update by Sri Lanka’s Disaster Management Center]. Quite a few of those deaths are in and around tea-growing areas. We had an entire village go under in a mudslide in the mid-country on the western slopes, and yes, there have been isolated deaths in tea gardens, primarily from mudslides and heavy rains. I mean, little creeks turned into massive streams, you know, dragging people away. But one thing that we have that works for these gardens is that a lot of the cottages and so on are on the higher slope. So if those slopes remained intact, and most of them did, then people were not harmed. And the workers were warned, and they moved out, and they’re receiving protection and assistance if necessary. And don’t forget, the plantation companies have a superb internal support system. No one’s doing business in isolation. So they have the capacity to move resources to where they’re needed really quickly. They are moving ahead without waiting for the government to come in. There are organized assistance mechanisms in place. They are kicking in, and I think the primary contribution will come from the government, clearing these roads, overcoming the landslides, and getting food to all these people. It’s not perfect. It’s not a beautifully choreographed initiative, but people are being cared for. And I would think that some of these gardens would be getting back into picking their leaves and commencing manufacture sooner than later,
Dan: You can help with donations to the Sri Lanka Red Cross, UNICEF Sri Lanka, and the Sartovaya Sarama movement, which directly support shelter, clean water, medical care, and rebuilding in the hardest-hit tea districts. The plantation Human Development Trust is coordinating support for estate workers and housing line communities. Visit www.redcross.lk, unicef.org/srilanka, or the Plantation Human Development Trust together; the Global Tea community can make a difference.
[The Sri Lanka Humanitarian Priorities Plan will require $35.3 million to implement, according to Marc Andre Franche, UN Resident Coordinator in Sri Lanka.Anil: There’s been a tremendous outpouring of concern and wishes for our safety, and we’ve seen that the Canadian Tea Association has moved fast to see how they could assist. We know we have friends, but it’s times like these that it really matters when we know people are reaching out the best they can. You can do, I would think, is have one extra cup of pure Ceylon tea that would get the economy back up,
Dan: That I will gladly do. Cheers.
Sri Lanka Survives Catastrophic Cyclone
Cyclone Ditwah has brought the worst devastation to Sri Lanka in decades, and the tea-growing heartland has borne the brunt. Over the past week, our correspondents in Uva and the Central Province have described a landscape transformed — slopes stripped bare, entire valleys reshaped, and once-lush tea gardens cut through by deep scars of mud and rock. The human toll is staggering. The national Disaster Management Centre lists 410 confirmed dead, and 1,800 injured, with 336 still missing, many from hill-country plantation communities where worker housing collapsed under massive landslides. At least 10 bridges were damaged, with additional disruptions to rail and power networks nationwide. Rescue and relief workers report 15,000 homes destroyed and 200 impassable roads. More than 400,000 Sri Lankan families have been affected, and over 233,000 people remain displaced in emergency shelters. For the tea sector, the damage is both immediate and long-term. In Badulla District, especially around Bandarawela, Haputale, Ella, and Welimada, entire hillsides of mature tea have been wiped out. Some estates have lost 40 to 60 percent of their standing bushes. Internal estate roads and several smallholder buying centers have been destroyed. State-owned tea factories were largely spared. In Kandy District, where the single highest death toll was recorded, landslides have cut off critical hill routes, leaving factories idle and green leaf stranded. [NOO-uh-ruh EL-ee-yah] Nuwara Eliya has also seen widespread disruption, with slopes destabilized and worker communities displaced. Matale reports severe mudflows and widespread household destruction.Listen to the initial news report by correspondent Dananjaya Silva here:
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