Kenyan tea prices were mixed at this week's auction, with some grades gaining on improved quality and increased buying from Britain, Afghanistan and Russia, traders said on Wednesday. "There was good general demand at irregular rates for the 132,499 packages on offer," Africa Tea Brokers (ATB) said in a market report.
Brighter BP1s sold at $2.32-$2.76 per kg compared with $2.30-$2.64 at last week's auction, while brighter PF1s fetched $1.78-$2.06 per kg compared with $1.75-$2.17 per kg last week, ATB added.
ATB said that Kazakhstan, Egyptian Packers and the Egyptian government sector also bought more tea this week, while Yemen and other Middle Eastern countries, the Pakistan Bazaar and Sudan bought less. Kenya is one of the world's top three producers of black tea together with India and Sri Lanka.