Kenyan tea prices dropped at this week's auction reflecting quality and slower demand, traders said on Wednesday. "There was less general demand for the 117,854 packages (7.6 million kg) at irregularly easier levels which declined as the sale progressed with prices closely following quality," Africa Tea Brokers said in a market report.
A third of the tea on offer went unsold, ATB added. Best BP1s were sold at $3.32-$3.14 compared with $3.72-$3.36 at the previous auction. Top PF1s sold for $2.75-$2.44 compared with the $3.27-$2.42 fetched at last week's sale. ATB said Afghanistan lent strong support while Pakistan Packers and the Bazaar showed interest.
Egyptian Packers, Sudan and Kazakhstan and Russia were a little less active, it added in the report. Kenya is a leading exporter of black tea. East Africa's biggest economy has forecast that it will earn a record 50 billion kenya shillings ($647 million) from the sector in 2008.