Tea purchases at Kenya's weekly auction increased by over 30 percent to 199.68 million kg in the first half of 2010, African Tea Brokers (ATB) said on Friday. The Mombasa-based auction, which deals in tea from at least 10 African countries, sold over 151 million kg in the first six months of 2009. Good weather across much of eastern Africa has favoured tea growth this year, after a drought in 2008 and 2009 slashed output.
Kenya, the global leader in black tea exports, sold a total 152.7 million kg during the period from 108.8 million last year, the ATB statistics showed. Uganda was second with 25.4 million kg from 22.9 million over January-June 2009. The Ministry of Agriculture forecasts 2010 production will increase 5-10 percent from the 315 million kg in 2009. Production rose 69 percent on the year to 111.7 million kg in the first quarter of 2010 and exports increased by 24 percent to 117 million kg.