Tea auction this week

Thursday, 10 April 2014 01:19 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

By Forbes and Walker Tea Brokers A total of 7.2M/kgs came under the hammer this week. There was less demand. Ex-Estate offerings comprised of 1.2M/kgs. Overall quality showed a general decline and consequently, a fairly sharp drop in prices was experienced – particularly for teas in the higher price bracket.

Teas in the below best and plainer categories which at the commencement of the sale sold around last week’s levels – declined by Rs.15-20 per kg as the sale progressed. Nuwara Eliya BOP/BOPFs continued to sell well at Rs. 500 per kg and above. Teas from the Uva/Udapussellaw regions also followed a similar trend and declined up to Rs. 20 per kg by the close. CTC teas were no exception and often encountered similar price declines. The liquoring leafy teas continued to be a weak feature and declined by Rs. 30 per kg and more with many invoices remaining unsold. Low Growns totalled 3.3M/kgs in the Leafy/Tippy catalogues this week. In the Leafy catalogue better OP1s were fully firm, whilst others and BOP1’s were mostly lower to last. PEK/PEK1s too were fully firm barring the teas at the lower end which declined mostly towards the close. OPs too met with good demand and sold around last levels, whilst a select range of OPAs were firm. Others were lower. In the Tippy catalogue too select best FBOP/FF1s and the cleaner secondries generally sold around last levels. Others particularly where quality was not maintained, prices declined. Better Tippy teas too were mostly dearer to previous. Others were irregular and lower, particularly following quality. Shippers to CIS, Turkey, Dubai, Kuwait together with Iraq were active this week.