Tea prices in Bangladesh rose for a fourth straight session at the weekly auction on Tuesday, on strong demand for quality leaf despite higher volume on offer. Bangladeshi tea fetched an average 190.56 taka ($2.4) per kg at the twenty-first auction of the current marketing season, up from 189.34 taka at the previous week's sale, an executive with National Brokers said.
There was huge demand for quality tea and sales also rose despite higher volume on offer in the auction that took place after a week's break for Eid al-Adha, the executive said. About 2.06 million kg was offered at the sole auction centre in Chittagong, of which 8 percent was unsold. In the previous auction on September 22, about 11 percent of the 20.03 million kg offered went unsold.
The national budget for the 2015/16 fiscal year that started in July raised the regulatory duty on tea imports by 5 percent to discourage overseas buying. Tea prices fell sharply in the last marketing season on poor demand from local buyers, as business sentiment was hit by renewed political unrest early this year that left more than 120 people dead and disrupted supplies. The country, however, has moved from being a net exporter to a net importer of tea due to rising consumption.