The Hindu Business Line : CTC dust hits Rs 100/kg at Coimbatore auctions

Coimbatore, Sept. 12 At the Coimbatore tea auction, brokers and producers had reason to cheer, when for the first time, the CTC dust touched the Rs 100-a-kg-mark, creating a record of sorts.

Sharing details, industry sources said the CTC dust volumes that came under hammer in Friday’s sale was 2.23 lakh kg.

Up Rs 6/kg & more

Packeteers such as AVT, Tata Tea and Indco, buyers of loose tea and exporters operating for Pakistan competed actively on the CTC dust grades. The prices started to appreciate by up to Rs 6/kg and sometimes more for the smaller grades.

Contemporary Tea Auctioneers Pvt Ltd managed to sell Karamalai Royal CTC Tea (NRC) of Peria Karamalai Tea and Produce Co Ltd at Rs 100/kg. “The lots containing 300 kg of Red Dust and an equal quantity of Super Red Dust were bought by Shri Sakthi Associates and Solar Tea Traders,” Mr Sriram, Chief Executive Officer of Contemporary Tea Auctioneers told Business Line.

Asked to comment on the catalogued quantities, he admitted to a marginal drop in the offering over the past four weeks or so. “Teas moved to Kochi as the Onam demand saw signs of pick up. This week, because of Onam, the auction at Kochi did not take place,” he said.

CTC dust price improved by about Rs 20/kg over the past nine months, starting at Rs 70/kg in January, he said and added that the industry expected the buoyancy to sustain for some more time.

He also said that exporters of tea to Pakistan had remained silent for three to four weeks, before re-entering the market and operating actively on the CTC dust grades.

Internal demand up

Meanwhile, there are signs of pick up in internal demand.

Industry sources said CTC leaf grades also attracted widespread demand from internal buyers at the auction. The quantities on offer amounted to 1.36 lakh kg and the price is said to have advanced by up to Rs 7/kg.