The Hindu Business Line : Coonoor teas slip on poor demand

"The attendance continued to be low and participation of the buyers in the bids was still lower. Only a very few lots were sold in the electronic auction", noted the market report of the joint brokers.

In the outcry auctions that followed,"Regular sale No: 49", totally 14.46 lakh kg were offered for sale. But, the demand was sluggish. Buyers showed much interest to pick up only plain teas but they paid around Re 1 per kg over the last week. The better medium grades lost up to Rs 2 a kg, while the high priced ones suffered heavily.

Exporters disappointed the producers. There was no buying for Iraq, West Asia, CIS and Poland, not to mention the controversial Libya. The buyers for Pakistan markets picked up some odd lines of cleaner blacker teas for Rs 48 a kg - some Rs 4 lower than their purchase price of last week.

Hindustan Lever Ltd (HLL) picked up some teas and paid around Rs 48 for the dust grades. Tata Tea was silent. GPI and Duncans bought only a very few volume .

Even as there were complaints of a general decline in quality due to seasonal factors, the buyers pointed out a cash crunch arising from their inability to liquidate the stocks in the upcountry markets. The result was a sluggish sale.

"The bolder grade CTC teas received less attention. Other plainer brokens and fannings lost up to Rs 1 a kg. There were heavy withdrawals among the plainer CTC teas. Clean black CTC dusts were easier by a rupee", noted the market report.

Quotations available with the auctioneer indicated the bids for plain dust grades at Rs 39 a kg, while for the brighter liquoring teas, Rs 59 to 61. The plain grade leaf teas got Rs 38 to 40, while the brighter liquoring ones, Rs 60 to 63.