Prices edge up on thin supplies amid unrest

FE Team | Published: March 05, 2015 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00

Tea prices edged higher at a weekly auction at National Brokers Limited (NBL) in Chittagong on Tuesday, snapping a four-week run of declines, due to a drop in supplies amid political unrest, reports Reuters.
Overall, prices inched up as volumes slipped this week amid non-stop transport blockades disrupting supplies, an executive with NBL said.
Demand from local buyers was however tepid and sales volume dropped as the continuing political uncertainty hurt business sentiment, he added.
Bangladeshi tea fetched an average of Tk 174.89 ($2.40) per kg, compared with Tk 174.30 at the previous sale, he said.
About 1.41 million kg were offered at the sole auction centre in Chittagong, of which 37 per cent remained unsold. In the previous auction, about 1.63 million kg were offered, with nearly 31 per cent remaining unsold.
Following is the tea market report of the sale 41 held on Tuesday in the port city, according to an NBL statement.
CTC LEAF: Offer for 21762 packages met with a strong but selective demand.
BROKENS: A handful of clean brokens met with a strong demand at generally firm rates and these could be quoted between Tk 195 and Tk 210 but the other varieties particularly the end of season types were mostly neglected and were discounted where sold.
There were also fair withdrawals in this category.
FANNINGS: Offer for the clean Fannings met with a strong demand and were dearer following competition often appreciating by Tk 5.00. These could be quoted between Tk 205 and Tk 225. The remainder met with fair demand but often eased slightly. Poor end of season types were mostly neglected without bids.
CTC DUST: Offer for 4191 packages met with a fairly good demand with prices closely following quality. A few good liquoring varieties were firm to slightly dearer following competition whilst others sold at around last levels in line with quality. End of season types were mostly unsold, Blenders lent good support with fairly good interest from the loose tea buyers.