Wednesday, 12 March 2014 01:10
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MUMBAI (Reuters): Average tea prices in India, the world’s second-biggest producer, dropped at last week’s auction due to sluggish demand for poor quality leaf from leading buyers.
The CTC (crush-tear-curl) grade leaf was sold at 105.07 rupees ($1.72) per kg last week, down 6.6% from the previous auction, while prices of the dust grade rose 2% to Rs. 123.86 per kg on thin supplies.
“Demand was very weak. Some big buyers didn’t participate in the auction since poor quality tea was offered,” said a Kolkata-based dealer.
There will be no tea auction this week and the next due to dwindling supplies, the Calcutta Tea Traders’ Association (CTTA) said in a statement.
India’s tea exports in 2013 nudged higher by nearly 2% to 211.86 million kgs due to higher purchases by Iran, the State-run Tea Board said in a statement.
