Tea prices in Bangladesh rose at the first auction of the new season on Tuesday due to the availability of fresh and good quality leaf despite a large volume on offer, brokers said. Bangladeshi tea fetched an average of 196.86 taka ($2.51) per kg at the auction, up from 131.63 taka at the last auction of the previous season on March 15. The season ended in the middle of March.
Major buyers were back in the market to buy fresh leaf, an official of National Brokers said. More than 1.6 million kg was offered at the sole auction centre in Chittagong, and 5.7 percent remained unsold. Bangladesh has moved in the past few years from being a net exporter to a net importer of tea due to rising consumption.