DHAKA, Nov 14: Tea prices in Bangladesh rose for a fourth straight week at a weekly auction held on Wednesday due to strong demand from local buyers for winter season offset higher supplies, brokers said.
The average price of Bangladeshi tea was 213.25 taka ($2.74) per kg against 209.24 taka in the previous auction on Nov. 6, an official from National Brokers Ltd said on Thursday.
More than 2.3 million kg of tea was offered at the country’s sole auction centre in Chittagong, with nearly 17 percent remaining unsold, compared with 2 million kg offered and 15 percent unsold at the previous auction.
‘This was a large sale but buyers operated very strongly and most tea was well absorbed at higher rates,’ National Brokers said in a market report.
‘Blenders were more active along with fair interest from the loose tea buyers.’
Demand for tea usually picks up in winter, which begins late this month.
The auction was not held on Tuesday, the usual day for the weekly auction, due to a new 84-hour strike called by the main opposition party to demand next year’s election take place under a non-partisan government.
Tea prices in India, the world’s second-biggest producer, fell at last week’s auction on higher supplies due to a pick-up in plucking, while the average price of top Kenyan tea eased to $3.57 per kg at this week’s auction from $3.72 per kg last week.
(AGENCIES)
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