History of Ceylon Tea

Sri Lanka Tea auctions this week saw fair demand and the overall auction quantity recorded an increase this week and totalled 5.9 M/Kgs, Forbes and Walker said in its latest report.

Ex-Estate offerings total around 0.75 M/Kgs in comparison to the 0.6 M/kgs on offer the previous week and demand was centred around teas at the lower end of the market, whilst teas in the higher price bracket continued to weaken, perhaps following lower quality, it said.

Consequently, select high priced BOP/BOPF's in the Best Western category declined Rs. 20-40 per kg, whilst the others were firm and lower to a lesser extent as buyers' followed quality closely.

Teas in the Below Best category were irregular and once again, tend to fluctuate following quality. Wide spread demand for teas at the lower end resulted in a firm trend in prices.

Nuwara Eliya - the very limited availability of BOP/BOPF's continued to realize premium prices.

Uda Pussellawas were firm and Rs. 10-20 per kg lower, particularly for the BOP's.

Uva - select high priced BOP's of last week were substantially easier, whilst the others declined by Rs. 20 per kg on average.

Corresponding BOPF's, where quality was maintained, continued to sell around last week's levels, whilst prices for the others fluctuated following quality.

CTC teas continued to meet with strong demand. Teas from the High and Medium Grown Regions sold at firm rates with price fluctuations reflective of quality.