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.

Russia Still Hesitant To Buy Teas At Coonoor Sales

Coonoor: Russia continued to show hesitation to buy bulk teas for the second consecutive week here because of the new restrictions, despite the easing of the blanket ban in the import of Indian teas.

“The ban has been relaxed, not removed. Now, bulk imports are banned in all ports other than Kaliningrad and St Petersburg in Baltic Sea. There also, they are subject to stringent quarantine tests. These are causing practical difficulties to our importers. We don’t have much orders on hand. The ban itself is wrong, for, the officials discovered beetle pests in sesame not tea,” an exporter told Business Line.

Subdued export purchase

Pakistan was also selective with the trade relations between the two countries yet to become normal after the disturbances following the assassination of Benazir Bhutto.

• Quarterly results of corporates: Check out

“Our importers continue to wait for quality teas at Mombassa although prices have shot up to $3 a kg following short supplies due to post-poll violence in Kenya. We hope soon, they have to come to India if the supplies and prices are unsuitable at Mombassa. Right now, orders on our hands are minimal,” an exporter explained. For the minimal purchases they made, they paid up to Rs 52 a kg.

There was some purchase for Egypt at Rs 50-53 a kg. Poland shippers chose minimal volume.

US To Support Nilgiri Speciality Teas

Coonoor: The USA has assured its support to speciality teas from the Nilgiris considering their quality.

“We are comfortable dealing with India. Having seen for the first time how quality teas are manufactured in the Nilgiris, I will spread the message to tea traders in the US. We are impressed by the long tradition of Indian teas, spanning a period of 200 years. More and more tea rooms are now taking to Indian teas. The Nilgiris tea has not been all that popular with us compared to Darjeeling or Assam, but I will explain to the traders back home the superior quality of these teas,” said Joseph P. Simrany, President, Tea Association of the US.

Speciality teas

Launching the Glendale Speciality Tea retail packs at Glendale Estate in Coonoor he recalled how some of these teas had created records in the US by fetching $600 a kg. “This shows that there is support for quality supplies. We wish that you fetch more such prices in the days to come,” said Simrany who is also President of US Speciality Tea Institute and the Tea Council of USA.

His wife, Carol Simrany, received the first basket of Glendale Speciality Tea packs in the presence of Ali R. Rizvi, Director of Tea Promotion, London.

• Quarterly results of corporates: Check out

Hailing the quality of these teas, R.D. Nazeem, Executive Director, Tea Board, said he had taken it up with the authorities of the Guinness Book of Records to give an entry to Glendale Tea on its having fetched the highest price of $600 a kg.

Glenworth prospects

K. Gopalakrishnan, Director, Glenworth Estate Ltd, which owns Glendale Estate, said that although the company produced some 1.5 million kgs annually, 75 per cent of it was exported. “But, the packs we are launching today are orthodox teas for the home segment in India, which will give the Indian consumers an opportunity to taste speciality teas. These come in vacuum packaging,” he said.