Tea prices in Bangladesh fell on Tuesday at a weekly auction because of a larger quantity of poor varieties on offer, brokers said. The average price of Bangladeshi tea fell to 158.84 taka ($1.90) a kg from 166.82 taka a kg in the previous sale, said an official at National Brokers Limited, the country's largest tea broking firm.
Around 1.9 million kg of tea was offered at the country's only auction centre in the main port city of Chittagong, and 21.48 percent was left unsold. That compared with 17.70 percent unsold in the previous auction when the offer was 1.7 million tonnes. There was a larger weight of poor varieties on offer, which were generally difficult to sell and tended to sell at discounts, while the demand for good liquoring varieties continued to be strong, the firm said in its market report.
"Blenders continued to be active while loose tea buyers were fairly selective."
Bangladesh's tax authority has imposed a 25 percent duty on imports of tea to safeguard local industry. The south Asian 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.