Sri Lankan tea workers are facing increasing hardship as the Iran war increases energy prices and reduces demand for tea exports, Reuters reports.

According to Sri Lanka’s Export Development Board (EDB), export earnings fell 17.3 percent year-on-year in March to $114.75 million.

This was in part due to a 38 per cent drop in demand from Iraq, the largest tea buyer, while shipments to the United Arab Emirates plunged 93pc amid disruption to shipping and transport logistics, EDB data showed.