Tea prices crashed to lowest in a year

Tea auctions were stalled due to technical glitches on Thursday and Holi on Friday, as much as 82.16 per cent of the offer was sold on Monday at Sale No: 11 of the auctions of Coonoor Tea Trade Association mainly due to the support lent by upcountry buyers.

This was the highest volume of sold since January 21.

Producers reduced their asking price to minimise the unsold volume and this resulted in the average price crashing to ₹90.07 a kg, the lowest in the calendar year.  It was the lowest since November 6, 2021.

This helped the volume sold to rise to 13.66 lakh kg – the highest since January 8.

With a higher volume being sold despite a fall in price, the overall realisation this week rose to ₹12.30 crore – up by ₹1.80 crore or 17.48 per cent over the previous week. 

“Exporters seen picking up lower price range of teas in most lots and in some cases, tertiary and secondary grades”, auctioneer Ravichandran Broos, Vice-President, Paramount Tea Marketing (SI) P Ltd., told BusinessLine.

Upcountry demand was more pronounced because of the absence of North Indian teas where plantations were closed for winter.

Homedale Estate’s Red Dust grade, actioned by Global Tea Auctioneers Pvt Ltd., (GTAPL), topped the entire auction when Shah Traders bought it for ₹381 a kg. Another Dust grade of Homedale and Crosshill Estate Special, auctioned by GTAPL, followed at ₹379 and ₹324 each. Darmona Estate got ₹301. All other CTC grades got less than ₹300/kg.

Among orthodox teas, Chamraj got ₹230, Kodanad ₹226, Kairbetta ₹225, Nonsuch Orthodox ₹209 and Havukal ₹204.