Kenyan tea prices dip

The average price of Kenya's top grade Broken Pekoe Ones tea slipped to $3.31 per kg at auction from $3.38 at the previous sale, leading trader Africa Tea Brokers (ATB) said on Tuesday. The east African economy is the world's leading exporter of black tea, which is a major source of foreign exchange, earning 112 billion Kenyan shillings ($1.34 billion) last year.
Best Pekoe Fanning Ones (PF1) sold for $2.76-$3.34 compared with $2.72-$3.16 previously, the broker said. Of the 151,736 packages on sale, 14.95 percent were left unsold. At the previous auction, 156,760 packages went on sale and 16.4 percent were not sold. Afghanistan, Kazakhstan and Russia lent strong support, and there was more activity from Pakistan Packers, Egyptian Packers, Bazaar and Iran, ATB said.