Kenyan tea prices were mixed at this week's auction, with some grades easing marginally due to a dip in quality despite good demand ahead of Easter holidays, traders said on Wednesday. The Mombasa-based Africa Tea Brokers (ATB) said 115,215 packages were offered for sale. At last week's sale, 129,589 packages were offered.
"There was improved demand. Most markets were there to buy tea. Quality is not bad, but it's not at its peak," said one trader with a leading export company. "Probably because it's very dry, and there were problems at the beginning of the year, the quantities have reduced."
Best BP1s sold at $3.20-$2.40 per kg, compared with $3.33-$2.51 at the previous auction. Best PF1s sold at $2.55-$2.26 per kg, compared with $2.60-$2.05 last week. ATB said Egyptian Packers, Pakistan Packers, Yemen and other Middle Eastern countries bought more tea than last week, as did Afghanistan and the United Kingdom.