Tea producers, traders and auctioneers who operated through the auctions of Coonoor Tea Trade Association (CTTA) in the first half of current calendar have earned 8.11 per cent more than in January-June 2018.

This became possible despite selling less tea because of increase in prices.

In the first quarter, teas from North India were not in the market as factories there were closed for winter. So, upcountry buyers sourced most of tea requirements from the South, including Coonoor auctions. This led to prices to rise and higher sales volumes.

However, from April, North Indian teas are hitting the market with sizeable volume and hence upcountry buyers are sourcing their tea requirements from North Indian auctions. This has affected the intake and price in Coonoor auctions in the last three months.

Nevertheless, because of the higher earnings in the first quarter, the overall realisation in the first half has increased considerably.

Till June-end, 26 auctions were held by CTTA when the price rose to ₹98.12 a kg from ₹86.99 in Jan-June 2018. The increased price pulled down the sale volume to 2.77 crore kg from 2.89 core kg.

So, while the price increased by ₹11.13 a kg, the sold volume decreased by 12 lakh kg.

Still, the volume loss could not offset the gain in price. In the first half of current calendar, the overall realisation rose to ₹271.79 crore from ₹251.40 crore during January-June 2018.

This meant a gain of ₹20.39 crore or 8.11 per cent in the first half over January-June 2018. If this trend were to continue in the second half, traders expect the overall realisation in 2019 to rise by ₹40 crore over 2018.

However, prices at present are ruling at new low at CTTA auctions. At this week’s auctions, the average price crashed to ₹78.90 a kg – the lowest in the past 12 months.