Tea prices in Bangladesh rose for a third straight session at the weekly auction on Tuesday due to strong demand for the winter season although sales dropped on a higher volume of poor grades on offer. Bangladeshi tea fetched an average 193.87 taka ($2.44) per kg at the 34th auction of this marketing season, up from 193.55 taka in the previous sale, a National Brokers executive said.
About 2.02 million kg were offered at the sole auction centre in the port city of Chittagong, of which 24 percent went unsold. In the previous auction, about 12 percent of the 2.02 million kg offered was unsold. There was strong demand from local buyers for the winter season, aiding a pick-up in prices, the executive said, adding that sales volumes dropped, though, on a larger quantity of poor grade leaf.
Typically demand for tea rises in Bangladesh during the winter. The national budget for the 2015/16 fiscal year, which began in July, raised the regulatory duty on tea imports by 5 percent to discourage overseas buying. Tea prices fell sharply in the last marketing season due to weak demand from local buyers, as business sentiment was hit by renewed political unrest early this year that left more than 120 people dead and disrupted supplies.
Comments
Comments are closed.