The average price of Bangladeshi teas fell some 4.22 percent to 154.20 taka ($2.23) per kg on poor quality at the weekly aucttion on Tuesday, brokers said About 732,415 kg were sold on average at 154.20 taka per kg, down 6.51 taka from the last sale. Some 7.0 percent of teas on offer, mostly end-of-season type poor quality, remained unsold and were taken back.
"The prices fell following quality at the penultimate weekly sale of the season," said an executive of the National Brokers Limited, the largest tea broking firm of the country. Bangladeshi buyers including exporters mainly to the Commonwealth of Independent States and Pakistan, participated in the sale at the country's only auction centre, in the main port city Chittagong.
Different grades were sold between 100 taka and 233 taka per kg in the general auction, which had a smaller quantity of teas on offer. In an exclusive sale for good liquoring teas some 450 kg of Golden Broken Orange Pekoe realised the highest price of 254 taka per kg, followed by some 550 kg of Pekoe Fannings selling at 250 taka per kg. The last and final auction of the outgoing tea-growing season (April-March) will be held on March 16, with an expected smaller offer of 200,800 kg only.