Tea prices grow at Mombasa auction on increased demand

The price of tea at the Mombasa auction continues to rise on increased demand and reduced volumes at the weekly trading.

A market report from the East African Tea Traders Association (Eatta) showed a kilogramme of tea traded at Sh210 last week from Sh203 on average in the previous sale, marking a fifth time in a row that the value has consistently been going up.

The volumes of tea withdrawn from the market declined to 20 percent from 23 percent previously following a rally in price. Eatta said 1.8 million kilos of the beverage was taken out of the trading floor.

Last week’s trading recorded a decline in volumes from 8.0 million kilos previously to 7.2 million.

Kenya’s tea has seen high demand from top buyers in the recent weeks, occasioned by low prices that have been prevailing at the auction.

Data from the Tea Directorate shows that the volume of tea bought by these countries have been going up since April compared with the corresponding period last year.

Pakistan increased its volumes by 14 percent in May and 18 percent in June while the UK enhanced to 66 percent in May and 12 percent June.

Decline in prices has been attributed to increased volumes of green leaf, which has shot up in recent months.

Tea production in the first half of this year grew by 41 percent on the back of good weather in the first quarter of this year, marking one of the highest volumes to be witnessed in the recent year.