The cumulative turnover at Coonoor Tea Trade Association (CTTA) auctions, which had fallen below last year at July end, continued to lag behind at August end. Till April, players at CTTA auction had earned less compared to 2014 but in May and June, they earned more. However, by July, the earnings dropped by ₹2.32 crore or 0.89 per cent compared to 2014. This falling trend continued in August. Although the volume sold till August had risen over last year by 15 lakh kg, that was possible only by sacrificing prices by ₹3/kg. Till August end, 35 auctions had been held. Since about 25 per cent of volume had remained unsold in most auctions due to low demand, producers reduced their asking price resulting in average price falling to ₹71.49 a kg from ₹75.39. The lower price helped higher absorption with the volume sold rising to 4.05 crore kg from 3.90 crore kg. Nevertheless, the overall turnover dropped to ₹289.53 crore from ₹294.02 crore. This fall of ₹4.49 crore marked a decline of 1.53 per cent. “We are waiting for a demand-push price recovery from exporters in the context of sharp reduction in the supply of Kenyan tea in the global market”, CTTA Chairman Ramesh Bhojarajan told BusinessLine .

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