Slack demand, higher arrivals drag tea prices at Coonoor auctions
Decreased demand and increased arrivals coupled with an adjustment in the auction system dragged down tea prices at Coonoor tea auctions, which saw a 4-5kg drop in average price realization.
Dealers said that the percentage of tea sold in Sale of 20 also declined by 74 percent in the leaf category compared to 86 percent in the previous sale, while the decline in dust sales was about 16 percent.
The decrease in average price realization in dust sales was around Rs 4 at Rs 109 as compared to Rs 113 in the previous week.
Good amount of withdrawals
According to the traders, tea prices have fallen in almost all types of tea with a large amount of withdrawals.
They cited the Tea Board’s modification to the auction system as the reason behind the downward price trend though it was introduced to speed up the selling process.
Global Tea Auctioneers said that the quantity offered in the sale of leaves was 13,29,064 kg, while in dust it was 6,36,377 kg.
In CTC papers, high-priced and best alcoholic beverages were $6 to $8 lower with some withdrawals. The better medium ones were also easier at 3-4 rupees with fair withdrawals. Medias were also $4 to $5 less with a fair amount of teas listed due to the lack of bids.
In orthodox papers, initial whole leaf grades were easier by $6 to $8, and some of the higher quality pieces sometimes sold for $4 to $5. Brokers for less were 4 to 5 rupees.
The higher-priced and better CTC-dusted wines were $8 to $10 less and sometimes more. Primary orthodox dusts were generally easier at $5 to $6, while secondary and finer dusts were barely consistent to easiest by $2 to $3 and sometimes more.