The Hindu Business Line : Coonoor sale buoyant on quality teas

EVEN as the representatives of tea producers were busy issuing statements expressing their disappointment over the Budget, the traders were busy paying a good price for the quality teas offered at the auctions conducted by the Coonoor Tea Trade Association (CTTA).

"The Budget had no impact at all at this week's sale. The buyers were interested in covering their requirements to fulfil the orders in hand. There was some improvement in quality compared to the last four weeks and this pleased the quality-conscious buyers who lifted them at fairly good prices," a committee member of the CTTA told Business Line.

The buyers for Gujarat, Maharashtra and Punjab markets were rather liberal in their purchases of the high-priced teas. On the corporate front, Tata Tea and Hindustan Lever Ltd (HLL) vied with each other to pick up the good liquoring teas. They were seen paying around Rs 70 a kilo in many cases.

The overall impact of such a quality support was that nearly 60,000 kgs of the teas offered could be sold for over Rs 60 a kilo. And, a substantial volume fetched more than Rs 70. "In the past few weeks, only Darmona topped the CTC bought leaf factories with a price of over Rs 70. But, this week, a number of factories fetched prices in that range," an auctioneer said.

On the export front, Pakistan re-entered the market after a long gap. "This is only because we could find some teas of the quality we need. We are paying Rs 36 a kilo for these select grades," a buyer for the Pakistan market said.

Iraq buyers picked up clean black leaf grades for around Rs 34 to Rs 36. CIS and Poland buyers bought for around Rs 33 to Rs 35.

HLL re-entered the dust market after a gap to cater to the Kenyan market. It picked up the cleaner blacker grades at around Rs 42 a kilo.

"Good liquoring CTC dusts were substantially dearer. Other CTC dusts were up by Rs 1.50 a kilo. Nilgiris dusts fetched Rs 3 more. Better liquoring CTC brokens also fetched Rs 3 more. Plainer ones lot up to Rs 2," according to the Market Report of the Joint Brokers.

On an average, plain dust grades got Rs 33 a kilo, while the better ones, Rs 38. Plain leaf grades fetched Rs 32, while the better ones, Rs 39.