The Hindu Business Line : 11.8 lakh kg catalogued for Coonoor tea auction

Coonoor, Sept. 26 A volume of 11.72 lakh kg has been catalogued for Sale No. 39 of the Coonoor Tea Trade Association auction to take place on Thursday and Friday.

This is the highest volume in the last nine weeks except for Sale No. 32 which took place on August 9 with a volume of 11.8 lakh kg.

This week’s offer is higher than last week’s by 60,000 kg and as much as higher by 2 lakh kg than that of last year.

The higher volume is because of increased arrivals due to the recent rains in plantation pockets. Also, teas withdrawn from previous weeks have been catalogued. In all, fresh arrivals total 9.96 lakh kg.

Of the 11.72 lakh kg, as much as 8.26 lakh kg belong to the leaf grades and 3.46 lakh kg dust grades. Again, as much as 10.96 lakh kg belong to CTC variety and only 0.76 lakh kg orthodox variety.

The proportion of orthodox continues to be low in both the leaf and dust grades. In the leaf counter, only 0.25 lakh kg belong to orthodox while 8.01 lakh kg CTC. Among the dusts, only 0.51 lakh kg belong to orthodox while 2.95 lakh kg CTC.

The increased volume can hit prices if the demand fails to raise proportionately. Last week, prices dropped Rs 2 a kg on the average due to sluggish demand.