Tea prices inch up at auction on lower volumes
Tea prices at the Mombasa auction have inched up by six per cent at this week’s auction reflecting tighter supply and high demand.
On average, a kilogramme of made tea sold at Sh233 on Tuesday compared with the Sh220 it attracted in the previous auction.
The volume of the commodity offered declined by 186,195 kilogrammes from the previous week.
Out of 105,711 packages (6,850,000 kilos) available for sale, 92,579 packages (6,003,410kilos) were sold with only 12.42 per cent untaken according to East Africa Tea Traders Association.
The prices, however, are still lower compared with the same period last year where a kilogramme of made tea fetched Sh287.
Head of Tea Directorate Samuel Ogola says high prices in the last auction was due to a decline in production arising from the ongoing cold weather and the high demand.
“There have been high demand for the beverage resulting from the decline in volumes due to the cold weather. This has played a major part in pushing the prices up,” said Mr Ogola in an interview with the Business Daily.
