The average price of top grade Kenyan tea slipped to $3.64 at auction his week from $3.68 per kg last week, traders said on Tuesday. The east African nation is the world's largest exporter of black tea and the crop is one of its largest hard currency earners, earning $1.27 billion last year.
Africa Tea Brokers (ATB) said in a market report that Best Broken Pekoe Ones sold at $3.98-3.30 per kg compared with $3.96-$3.39 at the previous sale. Best Pekoe Fanning Ones fetched $3.69-3.46 per kg from $3.66-$3.40 per kg last week, ATB added. ATB said 87,531 packages were offered for sale, with 22 percent remaining unsold. Last week, 86,983 packages were offered with 15.38 percent of it unsold. Pakistan Packers were dominant in the auction and there was increased activity from the United Kingdom. Sudan, Yemen and other Middle Eastern countries maintained interest. Regulator Tea Board of Kenya expects production to pick up starting this quarter, after a 14 percent year-on-year fall in output for the first three months of the year, due to heavy rains in the country.