Nghe An: 80 tea processing lines operating below capacity

(Baonghean.vn) -The long-standing competition for buying and selling has caused tension in the supply and demand of tea raw material areas. Many tea processing facilities in Nghe An are facing difficulties due to lack of raw materials to operate...

With a total area of ​​485 hectares of tea, including 280 hectares of commercial tea, tea is considered the strength of Thanh Thuy commune (Thanh Chuong), helping people to reduce poverty for many years.

Mr. Tran Trong Hao (Hamlet 3, Thanh Thuy) brings water to irrigate his family's tea area.

Mr. Phan Duy Trinh - Chairman of Thanh Thuy Commune People's Committee said: Tea growers are facing many difficulties, it is difficult to provide enough raw materials for tea processing facilities in the area. Currently in Thanh Thuy commune, there is Ngoc Lam tea enterprise, Youth Union 5 but they are all operating at a low level. Also because of difficulties, raw materials are not enough, so in the past there were 7 mini tea processing facilities in the area but now there are only 5 facilities.

Mr. Hoang Van Hai and his wife in Khe Mu hamlet - Thanh Thuy import tea for a mini processing facility in the area.

Mr. Hoang Van Hai in Khe Mu hamlet - Thanh Thuy grows 3 hectares of tea. He said that the annual output is about 3 tons, mainly imported for mini processing facilities in the area. While input costs are high, output prices fluctuate and decrease, and purchasing is also erratic. Previously, the price was about 400-450,000 VND/quintal of fresh tea buds, but now it has decreased to 350-360,000 VND/quintal.

Due to insufficient raw materials, many factories are operating below their designed capacity. Currently, Nghe An Tea Investment and Development Company Limited has reached 58% of its designed capacity, while the remaining tea processing facilities have only reached 40-45% of their designed capacity. The fact that private processing facilities are producing according to the trend has led to the total tea processing capacity currently exceeding 2 times the raw material output, causing an imbalance between the processing industry and raw material production.

According to Decision 6290 of the Provincial People's Committee, by 2020, the whole province planned 12,000 hectares of tea for business. However, due to many difficulties, it was adjusted down to 10,700 hectares.

Currently, the total tea area in the province is nearly 7,000 hectares, of which Thanh Chuong has the largest area with about 3,000 hectares. Next is Anh Son with 2,500 hectares, Ky Son with 490 hectares, Con Cuong with 345 hectares... The whole province has more than 80 processing lines with a total designed capacity of 602 tons of fresh buds/day. Of which, the "main player" is Nghe An Tea Development Investment Company Limited with a designed processing capacity of 262 tons of fresh tea buds/day.

In addition, Truong Thinh Tea Company Limited has 2 processing lines with a designed capacity of 28 tons of fresh tea buds/day. Rong Phuong Dong Joint Stock Company has 2 lines with a processing capacity of 24 tons of fresh tea buds/day. In addition, there are 74 mini processing facilities with a total designed green tea processing capacity of 567 tons of fresh buds/day.

Recently, at a meeting to discuss adjusting the planning of industrial tea areas, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Dinh Viet Hong proposed to review all tea processing facilities in the province, clearly identify processing facilities that ensure the conditions of planning raw material areas, technical standards, food safety according to standards and regulations before operating.

Facilities that do not meet the prescribed conditions must stop production and processing. When granting licenses, processing facilities must base on approved planning and must build a sufficient raw material area for the factory to operate, avoiding the situation of having too many processing facilities in a narrow area, causing an imbalance between raw materials and processing, breaking the industrial-agricultural linkage, causing economic, social and environmental consequences, and long-term impacts on production.

Thu Huyen