Tea prices in Bangladesh fell for a fifth straight week at a weekly auction on Tuesday amid a larger supply of low-grade leaf while the volumes offered were the highest for the season so far, brokers said.
Bangladeshi tea fetched an average of 157.02 taka ($2.01) per kg against 160.26 taka in the previous week’s auction, when prices fell 2 percent, an official from National Brokers Limited said.
Around 3.50 million kg of tea was offered at the auction centre in Chittagong, with almost 70 percent remaining unsold. At the previous auction, nearly 3.33 million kg of tea had been offered, of which 63 percent went unsold.
The latest offering was the largest of the season so far, while supplies of end-of-season poor-grade tea also were on the rise, the official said.
«Poor quality tea pulled down prices, and only 30 percent of the stocks were sold.»
The auction next Tuesday could offer even larger supplies than this week as unsold quantities will be added to fresh supplies, he added.
Bangladeshi buyers also have imported quantities of tea in bulk from neighbouring India, which contributed to a glut in the domestic market and reduced demand for tea at the auction, industry sources said. (Reporting by Ruma Paul, editing by David Evans)
Source: in.reuters.com/article/2014/02/25/bangladesh-tea-auction-idINL3N0LU3R220140225
Bangladesh tea prices dip again on large supplies
