DHAKA: Tea prices in Bangladesh rose for a fourth straight week on Tuesday at the weekly auction due to good demand from domestic buyers, brokers said.
The average price of Bangladeshi tea rose 2 percent to 155.92 taka ($1.9) per kg from the previous sale, said an official at the National Brokers Limited, the country's largest tea broking firm.
Around 2.4 million kg of tea was offered at the country's only auction centre, in the main port city Chittagong, and 16.25 percent was left unsold. That compared with 15.8 percent unsold in the previous auction when the amount on offer was 2.6 million kg.
"There is huge demand from domestic buyers," the official said.
Pakistani buyers, who took part in the previous four auctions after a long absence, were less active this week, he said.
The country has become a net importer of tea after previously ranking as the world's fifth-largest exporter.
Tea exports fell to $3.2 million in the fiscal year ended in June from $5.65 million the previous year, mainly due to growing domestic demand.
Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia are the main importers of Bangladeshi tea.
The next auction will be held on Dec. 20, with around 2.2 million kg on offer.
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