Nairobi — Tea prices at the weekly Mombasa auction dipped slightly this week amid decreased demand for the commodity.
At this week’s auction, a kilo averaged USD2.24(Sh269.92) down from USD2.28(Sh274.74) last week.
During the auction, the total volume traded was 69,086 kilos less than last week, the East African Tea Trade Association (EATTA)notes, signaling reduced demand for the commodity.
“There was good general demand at irregular levels for the 185,440 packages (12,188,298.00 kilos) available for sale. 123,280 packages (8,088,644.00 Kilos) were sold with 33.52 per cent of packages remaining unsold,” said EATTA managing director Edward Mudibo.
In the trading session, there was more and strong support from Egyptian Packers, Yemen and other Middle Eastern countries while Pakistan Packers were active but at lower levels.
“Bazaar showed reduced enquiry while UK and Afghanistan maintained interest with Sudan, Kazakhstan and other CIS states more selective,” said Mudibo.
Russia, Iran, and Local Packers were less active. Somalia maintained activity at the lower end of the market.