A subdued demand after Diwali has dragged tea prices at Coonoor auctions, registering a drop of ₹1-2 per kg for almost all grades.

Traders said the market has not picked up after the festival season with the sentiment being muted. A fair amount of teas were out-listed from the trade. Besides, the early setting of winter with night temperatures coming down is likely to affect the overall crop in tea gardens which might affect arrivals to the auctions in the coming weeks, they said.

The quantity offered in leaf category was 17,60,531 kg with a sales percentage of 75. In dust, the offerings were 4,87,167 kg with a sales percentage of 82.

Unit value up

Rajesh Gupta, Managing Director, Global Tea Auctioneers, said South India exports were down by 2.83 million kg in quantity and value of exports declined by ₹0.42 crore. But the unit price realisation inched up by ₹11.79 per kg due to the shortage of teas in North India. South India auction price average showed improvement in 1 and Q2, while Q3 averages declined. This resulted in erosion of profits gained during the initial months of 2023.

In the auctions, high-priced teas in CTC leaf were barely steady to occasionally dearer by ₹3 to 4. The better liquoring sorts were lower by ₹2 to 3 with some withdrawals. The mediums and plainer sorts had less demand and sold lower by ₹2 to 3 and fair amount of teas were outlisted.

In CTC dust, the high-priced and better liquoring sorts were lower by ₹3 to 4 and more with some withdrawals.

The primary orthodox dust grades were barely steady around the last levels, occasionally few lots sold easier by ₹2 to 3.

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