The highest price for top Kenyan tea fell to $3.70 per kg at this week’s sale from $3.95 per kg last week.
According to Africa Tea Brokers Prices for Best Broken Pekoe Ones (BP1s) TEABP1-BEST-KE fetched $2.80-$3.70 per kg compared with $2.80-$3.95 per kg last week.
Best Brighter Pekoe Fanning Ones (PF1s) TEAPF1-BEST-KE sold at $2.30-$3.02 from $2.40-3.00 per kg at the last sale.
ATB said 19.23 percent of the 140,010 packages, or 8.19 million kg, of tea offered was left unsold. Last week 12.34 percent of the 145,870 packages weighing 9.3 million kg offered were left unsold.
Kenya is the leading world exporter of black tea and the crop is a major foreign exchange earner for east Africa’s largest economy, together with horticulture and tourism.
Demand was strong from Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Russia and Sudan which bought more tea than last week.
Most of the tea auctioned at the Mombasa auction is from Kenya, but it also offers tea from Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and other regional producers.
AUTHOR:BEN GUMO AND ATB