Bangladesh tea prices rise
Tea prices in Bangladesh rose nearly 8 percent at a weekly auction on Tuesday, buoyed by robust demand for quality leaf, while sales increased despite a higher volume on offer.
Bangladeshi tea fetched an average 204.41 taka ($2.50) per kg, compared with 189.62 taka in the previous sale, the National Brokers said.
There was robust demand for quality tea and buyers were ready to pay premiums, which helped prices and sales volume to rally despite higher supplies than the previous week, a senior official of the National Brokers said.
About 23 percent of the 1.41 million kg offered at the sole auction centre in Chittagong remained unsold. In the previous auction, 28 percent of the 1.37 million kg on offer were unsold.
Bangladesh's tea output in 2016 rose by nearly 27 percent from a year earlier to a record 85 million kg, a harvest that may be big enough to make imports unnecessary.
The south Asian country was the world's fifth-largest tea exporter in the 1990s, but has now become a net importer due to a surge in domestic consumption.
Bangladeshi buyers have imported tea in bulk from India, Thailand and Malaysia, contributing to a glut in the domestic market and reducing demand at auctions, industry insiders said.
Following are the results of the latest auction (figures in Bangladesh taka per kg):
BROKENS
Bold/Large Brokens 180-190
Medium Brokens 185-200
Small Brokens 190-210
Plain Brokens 145-165
FANNINGS
Best Fannings 220-230
Good Fannings 205-215
Medium Fannings 185-200
Plain Fannings 145-165
DUST
Pekoe Dust not quoted
Red Dust 160-268
Dust 160-264
Churamoni Dust 180-275