The Hindu Business Line : Uptrend in Coonoor tea prices

Coonoor April 29 Prices rose a tad at the Sale No: 17 of the auctions held by the Coonoor Tea Trade Association (CTTA) here on Friday as the demand was fair enough to absorb the low volume of improved quality teas on offer. Only 7.17 lakh kg were offered for sale. This was the lowest volume of the last five weeks. "Because of the recent rains, we noticed a marginal improvement in the quality, a buyer told Business Line.

But, the prices rose only 50 paise to one rupee a kg as the buyers chose to adjust the 4 per cent VAT against their bids.

Exports

On the export front, CIS shippers chose some bolder grades for Rs 44-45 a kg. Exporters to Pakistan bought some select lines teas for around Rs 43. There was no purchase for other countries.

On the corporate buying front, Hindustan Lever Ltd (HLL) selected some leaf grades, but did not buy the dust grades at all. JV Gokal competed for the whole leaf orthodox grades. JFK bought some medium brokens and fannings.

CTC

"Improved varieties of brighter liquoring teas sold dearer. Plainer CTC leaf grades lost a rupee a kg. Fanning orthodox leaf grades gained Rs 2. But, some dusts suffered withdrawals. Plainer CTC dusts were barely steady.

Lesser high grown orthodox dusts were neglected. Fibrous sorts eased up to Rs 3 a kg", an auctioneer said.

Among the CTC teas from bought-leaf factories, Highfield Estate Special and Homedale Estate got the highest price of Rs 80 a kg. Darmona Estate got Rs 79, Dhavala Estate Rs 78, Professor Rs 77, Vigneshwar Estate and Selva Ganapathy Estate Supreme got Rs 76.

Corporate sector

Among the orthodox teas from corporate sector, Curzon got the highest price of Rs 136 a kg, followed by Kodanaad at Rs 134. Corsley got Rs 128, Glendale Rs 127, Prammas Rs 125, Tiger Hill and Chamraj Rs 124, Sutton Rs 121, Parkside Rs 117, Erinkadu Rs 114 and Mailoor Rs 110.

Quotations held by the brokers indicated bids ranging from Rs 39-40 a kg for the plain leaf grades and Rs 58-64 for the brighter liquoring grades. They ranged Rs 42-43 for the plain dust grades and Rs 65-75 for the brighter liquoring grades.