India’s tea production in September rose 5.7% from a year earlier to 184.72 million kg, helped by higher output from top-producing state Assam, the Tea Board said.

Assam produced 108.48 million kg of tea, up from 100.57 million kg a year earlier, the board said in a statement.

India, the world’s second-biggest tea producer, exports CTC (crush-tear-curl) grade mainly to Egypt, Pakistan and the United Kingdom, with the orthodox variety shipped to Iraq, Iran and Russia.

India’s tea production in the first nine months of 2019 was up 2.8% from a year earlier to 1006.4 million kg, the board said.