Volumes surge to 5.9Mkg at Colombo Tea Auction

There was an increased volume of tea amounting to 5.9 million kg on offer this week at the Colombo auction, Forbes and Walkers Tea Brokers stated.

The Low Growns/High and Mid Grown Leafy teas met with improved demand, perhaps the combination of an absence of an auction last week on account of the Sinhala and Tamil New Year and the strengthening of the US dollar vis-à-vis the Sri Lankan Rupee.

In contrast, the High and Mid Grown Small Leaf teas were adversely impacted by plainer quality.

In the Ex-Estate catalogue, Best Western BOP’s declined by Rs.100 per kg and more following quality, whilst the corresponding BOPF’s followed a similar trend. In the Below Best category, a few select BOP/BOPF invoices were firm and selectively dearer, whilst the others were irregular and declined by Rs.20-40 per kg and more.

A majority of the BOPs remained unsold due to a lack of suitable bids, whilst the corresponding BOPF’s were firm and Rs.20-40 per kg easier with the poor leaf and thinner liquoring teas declining further.

CTC teas relatively met with better demand with a firm to slightly easier trend for the poorer sorts and the corresponding Low Growns types appreciating by Rs.20 per kg, on average.

Low Growns comprised of 2.4 million kg, and met with good demand.