Second tea sale of 2018 offers 6.1mkgs

The second sale of the year concluded yesterday had on offer a total of 6.1 million kilogrammes (mkgs). Improved demand was seen particularly for the high and mid grown small leaf teas.

Ex-estate offerings totalled a 0.8 mkgs whilst the quality of offerings showed no significant change. There was strong demand particularly for the BOPF grade. Best Westerns BOPs – select invoices, gained up to Rs.20 per kilogramme following special inquiry, others together with teas in the below best and plainer category mostly sold around last week’s levels. The corresponding BOPF gained by Rs.10-20 per kilogramme with the plainer clean leaf types appreciated even further. Nuwara Eliya BOPs met with much less demand and consequently declined substantially whilst the corresponding BOPFs were irregularly dearer. 

Uva/Udapussellawa were generally firm. CTC BP1s gained a Rs.10-20 per kilogramme whilst the PF1s, with the exception of the low grown types that were firm, gained Rs.10 per kilogramme.

As anticipated, there was improved activity all round with the tea world settling down to regular business following the seasonal vacation.

Low growns totalled approximately 2.8 mkgs in the leafy/tippy catalogues. There was good general demand. In the leafy catalogue, BOP1/OP1s were sold at fully firm to dearer rates with the lower end of the market in particular gaining fairly substantially.

OP/OPAs too were fully firm to dearer. Here again the bottom end of the market gained Rs.10-20 per kilogramme and more.

Meanwhile, better PEKs were barely steady, others and PEK1s were fully firm to dearer. In the tippy catalogue, FBOPs were fully firm to dearer whilst a select range of well-made FF1s too were mostly firm; others were barely steady following quality.

In the premium catalogue too, well-made teas were fully firm whilst others were irregular. There was good demand from shippers to Turkey, CIS, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Dubai.