The price of tea at the Mombasa auction declined marginally in the latest sale as the volumes of the commodity continue to rise in the market.
East African Tea Trade Association (Eatta) said the price of the beverage per kilogramme decreased to Sh282 from Sh 283 and Sh293 reported two weeks ago.
The decline in price in the latest auction was occasioned by high volumes during the sale, which was 309,000 more when compared with the previous trading. The quantities of tea at the auction have been on an upward trend in the last four weeks.
Out of the 197,610 packages- 12.9 kilogrammes offered for sale, 165,310 packages (10.8 kilogrammes) were sold.
“There was fairly good demand with prices following quality for the 197,610 packages (12.94m/kgs) on offer and 12.09 percent remained unsold,” EATTA said.
Traders normally withdraw tea from the auction floor when the prices are down but offer it back for sale in subsequent auctions seeking to gain from higher buy bids.
During the previous sale, 12,481,740 kilos were offered for sale with 161,400 packages (10,562,662 Kilos) being sold. 15.96 percent of packages remained unsold.
“Pakistan Packers, Bazaar and Egyptian Packers showed good enquiry but at lower levels, while Yemen and other Middle Eastern countries saw reduced competition with maintained interest from the UK. Sudan lent more support with improved but selective activity from Russia, Kazakhstan and other CIS states. Afghanistan was quiet with Iran subdued. Local Packers bought tea on account of price. Somalia maintained strong activity at the lower end of the market,” EATTA said.
