Tea prices continue to drop at Mombasa auction

NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 28 – Tea prices at the Mombasa tea auction continued to drop for the third consecutive week selling at an average of Sh282 per kilo down from Sh 283  and Sh293 reported two weeks ago.

According to data from the East African Tea Association, the volumes of the tea during the sale rose by 309,000 kilogrammes after 10.8 Kilogrammes were sold.

“There was fairly good demand with prices following quality for the 197,610 packages (12.94m/kgs) on offer and12.09 per cent remained unsold,” EATTA said.

During the previous sale,  12,481,740 kilos were offered for sale with 161,400 packages (10,562,662 Kilos) being sold. 15.96 per cent of packages remained unsold.

“Pakistan Packers, Bazaar and Egyptian Packers showed good enquiry but at lower levels, while Yemen and other Middle Eastern countries saw reduced competition with maintained interest from the UK. Sudan lent more support with improved but selective activity from Russia, Kazakhstan and other CIS states. Afghanistan was quiet with Iran subdued. Local Packers bought tea on account of price. Somalia maintained strong activity at the lower end of the market,” EATTA said.