Orthodox Teas Firm To Dearer In N. Indian Sale

Kolkata: The CTC leaf and dust teas in North Indian auction centres at Kolkata, Siliguri and Guwahati met with strong enquiry from local and internal dealers and sold readily at considerable premiums over the corresponding sale of the previous year, according to J. Thomas & Company Pvt Ltd.

The major blenders were quiet.

Plainer sorts

In the orthodox sale, whole leaf, larger brokens and fannings were firm to dearer while smaller brokens were irregularly lower.

West Asia and CIS shippers were active while local dealers operated on smaller grades.

Darjeeling

The small weight of Darjeeling teas on offer sold well following quality with only the plainer sorts easing in value.

Traditional exporters and local dealers were the mainstay of the market.

Crop

Tea Board, shows that the production at 1.3 million kg was lower by 0.3 million kg compared to the previous year.

During the period, the South Indian crop at 16.4 million kg was ahead by three million kg compared to last year.

International

The Mombasa auction this week saw strong demand with all sorts appreciating sharply. Pakistan, Afghanistan, Egypt, Somalia, West Asia, Kazakhstan, Russia and Sudan showed strong interest. There was no sale in Colombo this week.

Firm Trend At Kochi Sale

Kochi: Good general demand propped up the price of dust tea at the Kochi tea auction where high priced dust was irregularly dearer and medium and plainer CTC teas were fully firm to dearer by Rs 2-3. High grown orthodox quoted higher while medium orthodox prices remained steady.

Major blenders were active on good liquoring CTC varieties while medium CTC witnessed good export enquiry. Loose tea trade was also fairly active. There was 9.32 lakh kg of dust tea on offer at the auction. Best CTC varieties quoted Rs 65-76, medium CTC was at Rs 60-64 and below medium was at Rs 52-57. High grown BOPD fetched Rs 114, medium BOPD was at Rs 50-52 and secondaries ranged at Rs 42-46.

Leaf Sale

Steady prices were witnessed for the 2.12 lakh kg of leaf tea on offer at the auction. High grown orthodox bolder grades were barely steady, bolder broken were steady and smaller broken were dearer by Rs 2-3. Fannings prices tended to be lower. Medium orthodox broken were steady to dearer while medium whole leaf grades quoted higher.

Smaller CTCs were dearer by Rs 1-2 while high priced bolder CTC were steady. Orthodox leaf witnessed better export enquiry this week while CTCs also witnessed demand from exporters as well as inter-state buyers. Best Nilgiri varieties quoted Rs 90-110, medium orthodox was at Rs 65-90 and plain orthodox was at Rs 44-62.

Best CTC leaf fetched Rs 58-60 and medium CTC leaf was at Rs 52-57. In the dust segment, Kodanad BOPD fetched the top price at Rs 114, followed by Pasuparai FD at Rs 91, Pasuparai SFD at Rs 86 and Sholayar SFD at Rs 80. In the leaf segment Quinshola CLFP fetched the top price at Rs 137, Havukal FOP at Rs 132, Havukal FD at Rs 131 and Chamraj FPS at Rs 122.