Nairobi — Tea prices at the weekly Mombasa auction rose slightly this week despite reduced demand from traders.
At this week’s auction, a kilo averaged USD2.27(Sh274.22) up from USD2.25(Sh271.80) last week.
The low demand saw the total volumes traded at the auction decrease by 407,013 kilos compared to the previous week.
“There was reduced demand with prices showing easier tendencies for the 181,340 packages (12,077,628.00 kilos) on offer. 120,480 packages (7,952,000.00 Kilos) were sold with 33.56 per cent of packages remaining unsold,” said East African Tea Trade Association (EATTA) managing director Edward Mudibo.
In the week, Pakistan Packers and Bazaar lent good support but at lower levels with maintained interest from UK while Egyptian Packers, Yemen, other Middle Eastern countries, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan and other CIS states showed reduced activity.
“Sudan were less active while Iran lent more inquiry but at lower levels with a little activity noted from Russia and Local Packers. Somalia maintained interest at the lower end of the market,” said Mudibo.