Out of 11.4 million kilogrammes of tea offered for sale in Mombasa, 10.6 million kilogrammes were sold with only six percent remaining.
Traders offloaded more tea for sale at the auction last week as the price remained flat compared with the previous sale, with fears looming large that the value of the commodity will go down in the coming weeks.
Data by East African Tea Traders Association indicates that out of 11.4 million kilogrammes of tea offered for sale in Mombasa, 10.6 million kilogrammes were sold with only six percent remaining.
The volumes went down drastically compared to the previous week where 11 percent of the total offered was withdrawn.
“Out of 11,410,000 kilogrammes available for sale, 10,635,927 kilos were sold with 6.75 percent remaining unsold,” read the auction report.
The low prices have made traders jittery about the future, compelling them to offload more of the commodity rather than keep it and risk selling at a much lower price.
In the Tuesday trading, a kilogramme of tea on average went at Sh220, the same as the previous sale.
Tea price had opened the year at a high of Sh224 for a kilogramme. The volume has been going up to hit a high of 10 million kilogrammes.
The Tea Directorate had forecast volumes will drop to 416 million kilogrammes last year from a high of 474 million kilogrammes in 2018.
The auction is witnessing increased tonnage as favourable weather last year boosted production.
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Note: The results are not exact but very close to the actual.
