DHAKA (Reuters) - Tea prices in Bangladesh rose at the weekly auction for the 11th time in a row on strong demand for quality leaf and tight supplies.
Bangladeshi tea fetched an average of 283.27 taka ($2.7) per kg in the port city of Chittagong on Tuesday, compared with 276.34 taka at the previous sale.
There was robust demand from buyers while supplies were lower than the last sale, an official at National Brokers said.
About 4.3 percent of the 2.33 million kg offered in the auction was left unsold. At the previous auction, around 2.48 million kg was offered, of which 2.2 percent went unsold.
Bangladesh's tea production dropped to nearly 79 million kg in 2017 from a record 85 million kg the previous year, which officials attributed to excessive rainfall.
The South Asian country was the world's fifth-largest tea exporter in the 1990s, but is now a net importer as the surge in domestic consumption is in line with economic growth.
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Following are the results of the latest auction (figures in Bangladesh taka per kg):
BROKENS
Bold/Large Brokens 280-285
Medium Brokens 282-287
Small Brokens 282-287
Plain Brokens 220-260
FANNINGS
Best Fannings 286-288
Good Fannings 283-285
Medium Fannings 280-282
Plain Fannings 220-265
DUST
Pekoe Dust 280-280
Red Dust 240-301
Dust 245-301
Churamoni Dust 267-317
(Reporting by Ruma Paul. Editing by Jane Merriman)