The Hindu Business Line : Low quality hits Coonoor tea

WITH buyers complaining of a general decline in quality, prices dropped for the bulk of the 12.7-lakh kg of teas offered at the auctions conducted by the Coonoor Tea Trade Association (CTTA) here on Friday.

Following unprecedented rains in May, the harvest has sharply increased in all the tea fields and the factories were flooded with green leaf for processing.

A direct reflection of this was that while this year's largest volume of 12. 7 lakh kg came for offer, only 40,000 kg could be sold for over Rs 60 a kg. The upcountry buyers from Gujarat, Punjab and Maharashtra were prepared to pay more than Rs 65, but they complained of the non-availability of the required volume of the quality teas.

Hindustan Lever Ltd (HLL), a large blender, supported the market in respect of suitable teas in both leaf and dusts categories. It bought cleaner types of dusts for export to Kenya paying Rs 38 to 40 a kg.

Iraq reduced the bids by Rs 2 a kg to dip to Rs 37, while CIS dropped Rs 3 a kg to buy for Rs 38. At these levels, the SBOP, BOP, BOPL grades could be sold.

But, Pakistan buyers did not pick up any volume. Overall, there was no slack in demand, but buyers felt that they could not pay more for the quality in the market. Darmona Estate continued to top the CTC bought leaf factories at Rs 71 a kg - some Rs 10 lower than the price it fetched a few weeks ago. Hittakkal Estate fetched the second highest price of Rs 68, while Shanthi Supreme came third at Rs 67.