Kenya tea prices improved at this week's auction with strong demand from large buyers, dealers in the coastal city of Mombassa said on Wednesday. "We saw much better competition this week from countries like Russia, Britain and Egypt, hence the better prices," an official at Africa Tea Brokers (ATB) said by telephone.
ATB said Eastern European buyers and Pakistan Blenders also competed strongly at this week's sale.
"The bazaar was active but Afghanistan was out-priced. Sudan was less active while Somalia showed more interest," ATB said.
The auction took place in Mombassa on Tuesday, but ATB published its weekly market report on Wednesday.
It said 103,504 packages were offered for sale, compared with 101,060 last week, and 3,040 packages were left unsold.
Top and bottom prices for Brighter Best-Broken Pekoes Ones (BP1s) rose to $2.20-$2.45 per kg, compared with $1.89-$2.48 at the previous auction, while prices for Brighter Best Pekoes Fanning Ones (PF1s) were mixed at $1.72-$2.00, compared with $1.55-$2.39 last week.