Demand and price of tea in the global market has remained low in the past four months due to high volumes and Covid-19 restrictions that have affected supply chains of the commodity.
As a result of low demand in the world market, where Kenya sells up to 95 percent of its tea, a kilogramme of the beverage has remained low at Sh186 a kilo in the latest trading at the auction.
Buyers bought huge volumes of tea when the Covid-19 virus first hit the country in March, fearing that it would be difficult to get the commodity going forward because of restrictions imposed by different countries.
“Traders bought a lot of tea previously because of uncertainties that would result from the Covid-19 leading to low demand at the moment,” said Edward Mudibo, managing director East African Tea Traders Association (Eatta).
In the latest sale, quantities were up by a million kilos compared with previous trading.
The low price has seen sellers remove more tea from the auction floor in the last one month.
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