Tea producers who auctioned their teas through Coonoor Tea Trade Association (CTTA) have earned less as the cumulative turnover till May had fallen by 9.90 per cent over the same period of calendar 2017.

To avoid piling of unsold stock, producers reduced the asking price by ₹10.39 a kg which helped the volume sold to increase by about a lakh kg but the fall in price brought down the overall earnings by ₹20.71 crore till May compared to last year.

In the five months, 21 auctions had been conducted when producers sacrificed prices to fall to an average of ₹90.23 a kg from ` 100.62 in the same period of 2017.

This helped the volume sold to increase to 2.09 crore kg from 2.08 crore kg.

However, the rise in volume sold was not adequate to overcome the sacrifice in prices. Hence, the overall earnings in the five months dropped to ₹188.58 crore from 209.29 crore. This fall of ₹20.71 crore marked a decline of 9.90 per cent.

The price fall continues in June as well. At this week’s auction, the average price crashed to ₹78.58 a kg – the lowest since Dec 8, 2017. Producers contend that if this trend continues, the overall earnings would be about ₹45 crore less this calendar over 2017.

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