Last week's two-day auction (Feb 14-15) witnessed improved demand for the 7.4 m million kg (mkg) which was available, compared to the week before when the auction was restricted to one day. The demand spike was attributed to the weakening of the Sri Lankan Rupee against the Dollar.
Ex-estate totalled about 1 mkg and low growns at 3.8 mkg. There was better demand for improved Westerns, which moved up LKR 20-30 a kg, while CTCs too were up LKR 10-20 a kg. There was better demand for low growns too, especially in the leafy/tippy catalogues. CIS, Dubai, Turkey, Libya, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait were active.