Tea producers and traders who operated through the auctions of Coonoor Tea Trade Association (CTTA) have lost 14.84 per cent in the first half of current calendar (H1) compared to the same months of 2019.
This happened because 26 lakh kg less tea was sold despite the producers sacrificing price by ₹5.91 per kg, reveals our analysis of the Market Reports.
Till June end, 2.51 crore kg was sold against 2.77 crore kg during Jan-June 2019. The cancellation of some auctions due to lockdown led to reduced sales this year.
To avoid piling of unsold teas, producers reduced their asking price to ₹92.21 a kg from ₹98.12 in Jan-June 2019.
With reduced sales at lower price, the overall earnings in H1 dropped to ₹ 231.45 crore from ₹ 271.79 crore in Jan-June 2019.
This marked a fall of ₹ 40.34 crore or 14.84 per cent.