The average price for top Kenyan tea rose slightly to $3.38 per kg at this week's sale from $3.36 per kg last week, while the volume sold dropped, traders said on Tuesday. Kenya is the world's leading black tea exporter and the crop is the top foreign exchange earner in east Africa's largest economy.
Africa Tea Brokers (ATB) said Best Broken Pekoe Ones sold at between $3.61-$3.15 per kg compared with $3.58-$3.14 at the previous sale. It said 92,294 packages were offered for sale, with 27,865 unsold. At last week's auction 94,798 packages were offered, with 12,918 left unsold. Brighter Pekoe Fanning Ones (PF1s) fetched $3.48-$3.25 from $3.47-$3.30 per kg last week. ATB said Yemen and other Middle Eastern countries and the United Kingdom bought more tea than last week, while Pakistan and Egyptian Packers bought less. Regulator Tea Board of Kenya said last week that tea production fell 12.9 percent in the first two months of the year from the same period in 2011 due to hot and dry weather in February and the impact of earlier frost attacks.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.