Buyers from Iraq, Russia & Pak make tea dearer

The recent enquiries from Iraq, Russia and Pakistani buyers for the export grade South Indian tea has pushed the tea prices up in the last two auctions at the Coimbatore and Coonoor auction centres.

Currently, tea grades are not generally available at Coonoor auction centre for a price less than Rs 38 a kilogram.

According to quotations held by brokers, Iraqi buyers bought teas at Rs 38-40 per kilogram while Pakistani buyers offered Rs 42-45 for medium crushed tear and cut (CTC) tea.

At the Coonoor Tea Trade Association (CTTA) auctions, 8.19 lakh kilogram was catalogued for sale, of which 5.98 lakh kilogram belonged to the leaf grades and the remaining 2.21 lakh kilogram to the dust grades.

Despite a low volume being offered at the auction (the sixth lowest volume in the year), around 70 - 80 per cent of the tea offered was sold due to good demand from exporters as well as internal buyers, a source in the CTTA said.

Among the exporters, Russia offered good support last week as sea transport became smoother with the harshness of winter getting over. Buyers from Iraq and Pakistan were low in activity. Upcountry buyers reportedly bought the quality offers of the fresh season teas from the North-East.

Pakistan buyers are offering to buy plainer and medium teas, which are mainly exported at higher prices, trade sources said. This has pushed the prices by about Rs 3 per kilogram, they added. On an average, teas were dearer by Re 1 to Rs 2 per kilogram.

At the Tea Trade Association of Coimbatore (TTAC), nearly 4.26 lakh kilo was on offer, of which 2.5 lakh kg was in the dust grade and 1.7 lakh kilogram in the leaf grade.

With a good amount of enquiry from Pakistani buyers for clean black varieties of CTC dust, it traded at Rs 62- 66 a kilogram. Good liquoring grades traded dearer by Rs 1 to 2, with corporate buyers like HLL, AVT and Indco Serve buying a good quantity of liquoring teas.

"With low volume and fair demand on the export front, the prices are expected to go up and the market will continue to remain steady for the next fortnight," said an industry source.