Tea auction brews price gains

Sri Lankan Tea Sale Averages for the month of February shows a positive variance for the month as well as to-date when compared to the corresponding period of 2013, according to the produce broker John Keells PLC.

It said the Total National Average for February 2014 at Rs. 481.83, is Rs. 59.15 above 2013 and Rs. 72.19 to-date.

“Significant gains have been recorded for the month from Low Grown at 17.4%, Medium Grown at 9.4% and High Grown at 7.5%. As anticipated, January Tea Crop of 25.4 Mkgs recorded a 9% increase when compared to the previous year,” John Keells PLC added.

Commenting on this week’s auction, it said the Ex-Estate market comprising of 1.06 Mkgs, met with improved demand and there was fair demand for the 3.3 Mkgs of Low Grown that were on offer.
“There was fair demand from Russia, whilst the Iranian buyers too showed better interest,” John Keells added.

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