August tea sale average up 4.7%

5.5 m/kgs comprising of .77 m/kgs of ex-estate teas along with 4.7 m/kgs of main sale teas came under the hammer at the auction concluded this week.

Forbes and Walker Tea Brokers said that at yesterday’s Low Grown sate a quantity of 2.6 m/kgs came up for sale in the leafy/tippy catalogues. There was good demand for the better OP/OPAs whilst OP1s and BOP1s continued lower.

High priced Pekoes were irregular, however clean below best sorts were firm on last. Select range of better made FBOP/FF1s too continued to maintain last levels whilst the secondary varieties particularly the flaky sorts declined sharply.

High priced tippy teas too were lower with the small leaf varieties in particular declining sharply. There was good demand from CIS, Turkey, Syria and Saudi Arabia whilst Dubai was less active.

Once again relatively smaller weight of ex-estate offerings met with good demand and continued to sell at attractive levels. Best Western BOPs which showed an improvement, appreciated in value whilst the others too met with good demand.

BOPFs however appreciated substantially with improved invoices attracting prices well in excess of Rs. 200/- per kg. Once again the BOPFs continued to achieve a substantial premium over their corresponding BOPs. Nuwara Eliyas too attracted long prices following quality.

Seasonal teas from the eastern sector continued to achieve long prices following quality and airmail inquiry. This trend is expected to continue in the coming weeks. Liquoring leafies met with good demand and continued to attract remunerative prices. CTC teas saw an upward trend in prices for the first time in many weeks.

Both BP1s and PF1s appreciated in value. Teas with improved liquoring characteristics attracted demand from UK, USA, Japan and the Continent whilst shippers to CIS and the Middle East operated at the bottom end of the market.

Total sale average of Rs. 151/l5 for the month of August 2003 shows a growth of Rs. 5/94 or Rs. 4/09% when compared with the Rs. 145/21 average for August 2002.

The most significant growth has been from the Low grown sector which records a growth of Rs. 12/05 when compared to the same period last year. The Medium Growns too record a growth of Rs. 8/99 when compared with the same period last year. High Grown sale average however records a decline of Rs. 5/61 when compared with August 2002.

The total sale average of Rs. 144/89 for January/August 2003 shows a decline of Rs. 2/90 or 1.96% when compared with the Rs. 147/79 average for the same period last year.

The High Grown average shows a marginal increase of Cents -/15 whilst the Low Growns record a decline of Rs. 4/84 and the Medium Grown average, a decline of Rs. 2/53 when compared with the same period last year.