Bangladesh tea prices up on strong winter demand

Tea prices in Bangladesh rose at the weekly auction on Tuesday, due to a drop in supply amid good demand for the winter season.

Bangladeshi tea fetched an average 192.54 taka ($2.44) per kg at the twenty-seventh auction of the current marketing season, compared with Tk 189.11 at the previous sale, an executive with National Brokers said.

About 2.03 million kg were offered at the sole auction centre in Chittagong, of which 13.76 percent was unsold. In the previous auction, about 6.5 percent of the 2.14 million kg offered went unsold.

There was strong demand as buyers wanted to stock up for the winter season amid lower supplies at the auction, aiding a pick-up in prices, the executive said, adding that sales volume dropped, though, on a larger quantity of poor grade leaf.

Typically demand for tea rises in Bangladesh during the winter.

The national budget for the 2015-16 fiscal year that started in July raised the regulatory duty on tea imports by 5 percent to discourage overseas buying.

Tea prices fell sharply in the last marketing season on poor demand from local buyers, as business sentiment was hit by renewed political unrest early this year that left more than 120 people dead and disrupted supplies.

The country has moved from being a net exporter to a net importer of tea due to rising consumption.

Following are the results of the latest auction (figures in Bangladesh taka per kg):

BROKENS

 Bold/Large Brokens                  185-188

 Medium Brokens                       187-192

 Small Brokens                          190-194

 Plain Brokens                           165-175

FANNINGS

 Best Fannings                          195-197

 Good Fannings                         192-194

 Medium Fannings                     186-188

 Plain Fannings                          165-175

DUST

 Pekoe Dust                             180-195

 Red Dust                                180-212

 Dust                                      185-211

 Churamoni Dust                      180-223

($1 = 77.7300 taka)