Last week at Sale No. 46 at Kolkata tea auction, the average prices of both CTC and Orthodox were virtually flat vis-a-vis the previous sale (No. 44, as there was no sale 45), according to J Thomas & Company Pvt Ltd., the tea auctioneers.
The average Orthodox price was Rs 172.61 a kg compared to Rs 172.69 in the previous sale while that of CTC was Rs 148.53 (Rs 148.27).
The total offerings (packages) at three North Indian auctions centres at Kolkata, Guwahati and Siliguri at 2,74,345 were substantiallly lower than 5,13,057 in the corresponding sale (No. 46) of the last year.
This was mainly due to the substantial drop in the offerings of CTC/Dust in all the three auction centres.
Assam CTC teas met with strong demand and sold at firm to dearer rates, particularly cleaner, grainier and liquoring sorts.
Dooars also followed a firm to dearer trend. There was good enquiry from Hindustan Unilever and active support from Tata Global.
Orthodox offerings met with improved demand and all sorts sold at firm to dearer rates. Exporters to CIS and West Asia operated.
Limited weight of Darjeeling teas showing seasonal improvement in quality saw strong competition and sold at attractive rates.