Tea prices in Bangladesh edged higher at the weekly auction on Tuesday, rising for a second week, due to strong demand from local buyers for quality leaf.
Bangladeshi tea fetched an average of Tk185.99($2.40) per kg at the auction on Tuesday, against Tk185 at the previous sale, an official at National Brokers Ltd said. The price for last week's auction was revised to Tk185 taka from Tk185.98.
More than 2.61 million kg was offered at the auction centre in Chittagong, with 20.3% remaining unsold. At the previous auction, around 2.66m kg was offered, of which 20.5% went unsold.
"There was robust demand for quality tea and buyers were ready to pay a premium," the official said.
Bangladesh's tea production rose 1.6% in 2013 to a record 63.5m kg due to favourable weather, but it was still short of domestic consumption of about 65m kg.
The country has moved from being a net exporter of tea to a net importer due to rising consumption.
In April this year, Bangladesh trebled regulatory duty to 15% on imports of tea to discourage overseas buying amid a drop in local prices due to ample supplies.
Following are the results of the latest auction. Figures are in Bangladesh taka per kg.
BROKENS
Bold/Large Brokens 160-170
Medium Brokens 172-177
Small Brokens 183-193
Plain Brokens 90-120
FANNINGS
Best Fannings 192-197
Good Fannings 185-190
Medium Fannings 172-180
Plain Fannings 90-120
DUST
Pekoe Dust 165-192
Red Dust 110-235
Dust 145-213
Churamoni Dust 160-250
