Escalating military conflict in West Asia is disrupting Indian exports of tea, coffee and cardamom, with industry bodies reporting stranded containers, steep freight hikes and falling prices in the country’s key plantation belt. Over the last six to eight weeks, exporters say shipments moving through the Strait of Hormuz and Dubai’s Jebel Ali Port have slowed sharply, raising costs and uncertainty for buyers in West Asia, Europe and the United States.
According to The Hindu, India exported 3.84 lakh tonnes of coffee in 2025, but around 300 containers of coffee bound for West Asia are now stranded or moving slowly through the Strait of Hormuz. The same report notes that Europe accounts for 60% of India’s coffee exports and that freight charges to the United States and Europe have risen by 50–60%, while transit times on these routes have lengthened by more than 10 days.
Coffee Exporters Association of India president Ramesh Rajah told The Hindu that, under the current scenario, per‑container delivery costs for coffee have escalated by US$5,000 to US$6,000, in addition to US$800 to US$1,000 paid as freight per container. Karnataka Planters Association chairman Salman Baseer said the Iran–Israel conflict and shipping disruptions have significantly impacted coffee exports, escalating freight and landing charges and dampening sentiment in India’s coffee markets.
The tea sector’s exposure to West Asia is also substantial. United Planters’ Association of Southern India secretary general Rajan Sanjith told The New Indian Express that almost 44% of India’s tea exports last year were shipped to West Asian countries. Harrisons Malayalam chief executive Cherian M George stated in The New Indian Express and Magzter that about 40% of India’s tea exports are dependent on or linked to West Asian markets, with the remaining 60% going to CIS countries, Russia and Europe.
George added that India exported around 280 million kilograms of tea in 2025, describing it as one of the highest export volumes in recent years. Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal noted separately in The Financial Express that the value of India’s tea exports rose to Rs 8,719 crore in 2025–26 from Rs 4,509 crore in 2013–14, an increase of 93%.
Those gains are now under pressure in segments that rely heavily on orthodox tea destined for West Asia. Guwahati Tea Auction Centre secretary Dinesh Bihani told The Financial Express that exporters have begun to witness the impact of the West Asia crisis on orthodox tea over the past one and a half months, as shipments to the region take 45 to 50 days to reach their destination. He said insurance costs have risen sharply, export orders are being placed in smaller quantities and there is growing uncertainty over payment security.
In a separate interview with The Financial Express, Bihani said insurance costs have increased significantly and that there is no complete security for payments, reinforcing the caution among buyers. He also told The New Indian Express that exporters are identifying new markets, with Russia remaining a major destination for Indian tea.
Cardamom growers supplying Gulf markets report a similar squeeze. Cardamom Planters Federation chairman Stany Pothen told The New Indian Express that most green cardamom goes to Dubai, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, but containers have not reached these destinations and some ships carrying spices have even returned to Mumbai. Pothen said demand has fallen and prices have declined from around Rs 2,800 per kilogram to Rs 2,400 per kilogram, a drop of Rs 400–500 per kilogram since the crisis began.
Pothen also told The New Indian Express that coffee and almost all consumables exported from the southern Indian state of Kerala have been affected, as exporters spend much more to ensure shipments reach their destinations, resulting in what he described as severe losses. He added that freight rates overall have gone up by 30–40%.
Operational delays at the port level are filtering down to individual exporters. In a report from The New Indian Express, coffee exporter Thipaiah said a coffee shipment that was ready on 27 April could only be loaded on 7 May. The same coverage cited a shortage of feeder vessels from Indian ports and disruptions at Jebel Ali Port in Dubai as factors contributing to longer transit times for plantation commodities.
Industry sources quoted in The Financial Express and The New Indian Express state that domestic fuel prices in India are under upward pressure because of the crisis, adding to cost risks for plantation exporters even as they contend with higher maritime insurance premiums and rerouted shipping lanes.
