Top price of Kenyan tea dips at auction

09 Sep, 2014

NAIROBI: The maximum price of Kenya's highest quality tea fell to $3.52 per kg at auction this week from $3.73 per kg last week, Africa Tea Brokers said on Tuesday.

The east African nation is the world's leading exporter of black tea, and the crop is a leading foreign exchange earner for the economy, together with horticulture and tourism.

Best Broken Pekoe Ones (BP1s) sold at $2.20-3.51 per kg during the sale held on Monday and Tuesday, compared with $2.28-3.73 per kg during last week's sale, the company said in a report.

Best Brighter Pekoe Fanning Ones (PF1s) attracted a price of $2.34-$2.70 per kg, compared with $2.36-$2.72 per kg in the previous sale. Of the 136,693 packages or 8.69 million kg on offer, 16.86 percent remained unsold.

Most of the tea offered at the weekly auction in the port city of Mombasa is from Kenya, but tea from Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and other regional producers is also sold.

Copyright Reuters, 2014

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