Tea traders offload record volumes as price keeps falling

Traders offloaded record high volumes of tea at the Mombasa auction last week as the price dipped marginally to the lowest value witnessed since the beginning of the year.

Data from East African Tea Traders Association (Eatta) indicated out of 12.5 million kilos offered for sale in Mombasa, only 9.03 million were sold in a week that saw the market interrupted briefly by the news of closure that delayed the auction by a day.

About 4.4 million kilos, representing 28 percent of the total volumes were withdrawn from the auction floor, marking the highest quantities to have been pulled out in the last one year.

“Out of 12.5 million kilos available for sale, 9.03 million kilos were sold with 27.8 per cent remaining unsold,” said a report by the auction.

The auction continues to record poor prices with a kilo of the beverage on average fetching Sh187 down from Sh188 in the previous sale.

Tea price had opened the year on a high of Sh224 a kilo but the value has been going down since February in what has been attributed to increase in supply.

The low prices point to decreased earnings for farmers two months to the closure of the 2020/2021 fiscal year.

AUCTION MOVED

The Mombasa auction had earlier announced it would close trading as a precautionary measure following the announcement by the government prohibiting gathering of more than 15 people in an effort to curb the spread of Covid-19.

However, the market opened later following intervention by stakeholders, with the main auction moved to Whitesands hotel from the main venue.

Eatta, which runs the auction, issued strict guidelines to control the number of people at the trading floor.

For instance, all buyers participating in the secondary auction are asked to send only one representative as a measure of controlling crowds in line with the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Health.