Loose Green tea: Why are prices going up so much?

I'm a green tea drinker. For years I have been paying a good deal to buy good quality loose tea in various types of containers from various producers.
Until a year ago when I discovered the very decent Young Hyson Green Tea, from Hyson in Colombo, Ceylon (Sri Lanka) sold in 7.00 oz aluminium foil packages contained in a tightly sealed metal can .
In spite of a so-so reputation, I found this Hyson product ( hand-picked young buds and leaves) quite pleasant too drink as a morning tea.
And since it was only $ 4.99 per container at Fresh Farms International on Touhy in Niles I used to buy 2 at a time.
Alas, last week when it was time to renew my stock, I found out that the price had gone up to $ 7.29.
Needless to say I bought a can anyway since even at this price it is still a good bargain considering that the same size container of the same brand cost $19.50 at Amazon.com.
I double checked some other good brands of loose green tea and found out that their prices were also going up substantially.
Does anybody knows why the price of green teas in loose leafs and buds is going up so rapidly?

Apparently a combo of increase in demand and drought in tea-producing regions

Remember, "Google is your friend"

Googling isn't near as fun as the responses you get on LTH. Now my complaint is still about butter. I've seen it for over $5.00! Maybe I should get my churn out.