Coonoor tea auction date changed again

A volume of 13.32 lakh kg worth about ₹ 12.25 crore at current prices catalogued for Sale No: 18 of the auctions of Coonoor Tea Trade Association (CTTA) will have to wait until May 2, as the CTTA has once again changed the auction date.

Earlier, CTTA had announced that this sale would be held on April 29 as a single auction for Leaf and Dust, but a few days back, it changed the auctions to April 29 for Leaf and April 30 for Dust.

“We have now decided to conduct this Sale on May 2 as a single day auction for Leaf and Dust grades from 9 am to 5:05 pm”, CTTA Vice Chairman L Vairavan told BusinessLine on Tuesday.

“We had to change this because buyers, especially exporters based in Coimbatore, are unable to actively participate now because of the four-day complete lockdown in Coimbatore”, he explained.

“We have advised our members to strictly follow the Covid-19 safety norms prescribed by the Government while engaging in the auction process”, he added.

There has been disruption in the CTTA auctions since Sale No: 13.

The Sale No: 13, which was scheduled to be held on March 26 and 27, was held on April 20 as the offices of CTTA, broker and warehouses were closed following the national lockdown in the country’s fight against Covid-19.

The CTTA has announced that Sale Nos 14 to 17 would be dropped. Now, it has said that Sale No: 18 will be held on May 2.

“We have decided to follow the regular auction schedule from Sale No: 19. Accordingly, for that Sale, the Leaf auction will be held on May 7 and Dust auctions on May 8”, Vairavan disclosed.