With the lorry strike coming to an end, tea producers expect increased demand at Sale No: 34 of the auctions of Coonoor Tea Trade Association to be held on Thursday and Friday when 12.87 lakh kg will be offered.

This is the lowest volume in the last 20 weeks except last week when the volume was 49,000 kg less. It is as much as 1.47 lakh kg less than the offer this time last year.

Of the 12.87 lakh kg on offer, 8.72 lakh kg belongs to the leaf grades and 4.15 lakh kg belongs to the dust grades. As much as 11.84 lakh kg belongs to CTC variety and only 1.03 lakh kg, orthodox variety. The proportion of orthodox teas continues to be low in both the leaf and dust grades. In the leaf counter, only 0.57 lakh kg belongs to orthodox while 8.15 lakh kg, CTC. Among the dusts, only 0.46 lakh kg belongs to orthodox while 3.69 lakh kg, CTC.

In the 12.38 lakh kg, fresh teas account for as much as 10.61 lakh kg. About 2.26 lakh kg comprises teas which had remained unsold in the previous auctions. Some buyers said that they were facing cash crunch as teas bought in previous auctions had not moved to their destinations yet because of lorry strike.

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