A good take-up rate prevailed at this week's tea auction in Kenya but prices stayed mixed, market participants said on Wednesday. Africa Tea Brokers (ATB) said 124,306 packages (7.93 million kg) were up for sale at the auction, with 7,960 remaining unsold.
Last week, 119,574 packages (7.6 million kg) were offered for sale and 8,420 got no takers. Top BP1s went for $3.15-$2.70 per kg compared with $3.12-$2.70 per kg attained at last week's sale. Best PF1s appreciated by $0.15-$0.20 to sell at $2.62-$2.36 per kg, from last week's $2.46-$2.20.
Tea, which is expected to earn east Africa's biggest economy a record 50 billion shillings ($646 million) this year, endured a sustained fall in auction prices from September, on the back of the global financial crisis.
Although the decline caused concern, traders say the prices are recovering. They expect them to rise further in early 2009 on reduced supply during the country's dry season that runs until March. Kenya is among the world's biggest exporters of black tea.
The bulk of the tea sold at the weekly auction comes from Kenya, but eight other African producers Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, Burundi, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of Congo - sell their crop there.