Average tea prices in India, the world’s second-biggest producer, fell further at last week’s auction as most of the supplies were of poor grade tea amid weak demand from leading buyers.
The CTC (crush-tear-curl) grade leaf was sold at 112.53 rupees ($1.81) per kg last week, down 2.7 percent from the previous auction, while prices of the dust grade rose 2.9 percent to 121.49 rupees per kg on thin supplies.
«Since most of supplies were of poor grade leaf, big companies are not showing interest,» said a Kolkata-based dealer.
India’s tea exports in 2013 nudged higher by nearly 2 percent to 211.86 million kgs due to higher purchases by Iran, the state-run Tea Board said in a statement.
The country’s tea production in 2013 rose 6.5 percent from a year earlier to a record 1,200 million kg, the Indian Tea Association said, on higher plucking by small growers in the north-eastern part of the country.
Source: in.reuters.com/article/2014/02/24/markets-india-tea-auction-idINL3N0LT20K20140224
India tea prices extend drop on poor grade leaf supply
