Top price of highest grade Kenyan tea slips at auction

Money Markets

 

Kenya is the leading world exporter of black tea. FILE 

By Reuters

In Summary

• Kenya is the leading world exporter of black tea and the crop is a major foreign exchange earner for east Africa's largest economy, together with horticulture and tourism.

The highest price for top grade Kenyan tea fell to $3.00 per kg at this week's sale from $3.20 per kg last week, Tea Brokers East Africa said on Wednesday.

Kenya is the leading world exporter of black tea and the crop is a major foreign exchange earner for east Africa's largest economy, together with horticulture and tourism.

Prices for Best Broken Pekoe Ones (BP1s) TEABP1-BEST-KE fetched $2.45-$3.00 per kg compared with $2.65-$3.20 per kg last week, Tea Brokers said in a statement.

Best Brighter Pekoe Fanning Ones (PF1s) TEAPF1-BEST-KE sold at $2.15-$2.60 from $2.28-$2.67 per kg at the last sale.

Tea Brokers said 16.47 per cent of the 130,808 packages, or 8.42 million kg, of tea offered was left unsold. Last week, 16.57 per cent of the 140,994 packages weighing 9.1 million kg offered were left unsold.

Demand was strongest from Pakistan, Yemen, other Middle Eastern countries and Sudan.

Most of the tea offered at the Mombasa auction is from Kenya, but it also sells tea from Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and other regional producers.

Kenya's tea output and export earnings rose last year, helped by good weather and by sales to new markets, which cushioned its sector from a drop in world prices.

READ: Tea export earnings grow as high volumes offset low prices

The Tea Board of Kenya said earnings rose 2 per cent to Sh114.4 billion ($1.3 billion), while total output jumped 17 per cent to a record 432.4 million kg.