Offerings at the Colombo tea auction totalled 5.4 million kilogrammes, marginally higher than the previous week, with good general demand at irregular rates, the Daily Mirror reported.
Ex-Estate offerings were similar to the previous week at 0.6 million kg. Low Growns totalled approximately 2.3 million kg, with all categories meeting fair demand.
High Growns: quality slipping, prices easing
The overall quality of teas from the Western slopes continued to show a slight decline, while offerings from the Eastern sector remained fairly similar.
Best Western BOP/BOPFs declined by Rs 20 per kg, except for a few select BOPF invoices that were firm and dearer by a similar margin. In the Below Best category, BOPs in the higher price bracket declined by Rs 20 per kg and more, while the rest sold around the previous week’s levels. The corresponding BOPFs in the higher bracket were firm to Rs 20 per kg easier.
At the lower end of the market, BOPs declined by up to Rs 50 per kg, while the corresponding FGS sold around last levels.
Nuwara Eliya BOP/BOPFs met with poor demand and were often difficult of sale. Uda Pussellawa BOPs were up to Rs 50 per kg easier, while the corresponding BOPFs sold at firm to marginally dearer rates. Uva BOPs were irregular and the BOPFs barely steady.
CTCs and buying interest
High and Medium Grown CTCs showed no significant change, though the report records an overall bearish market sentiment. The corresponding Low Growns continued to sell well, at marginally easier rates.
On the buying side, limited interest was seen from shippers to the UK and the continent. Improved activity came from shippers to the CIS across a wide cross-section of the teas, while shippers to Japan, China and the Middle East continued to be active in the usual manner. South Africa purchased selectively.
Against the recent record
The 5.4 million kg on offer compares with the 5.1 million kg recorded in September, when this desk last covered the auction — volumes are running modestly higher into the end of the year.
Not reported
The filing is a market report rather than a news story and carries no average prices, no national sale averages, and no total value for the sale. It does not give the sale number or the auction dates, does not name the broker whose report it reproduces, and offers no explanation for the decline in Western quality or the weakness in Nuwara Eliya demand. It carries no comment from the Tea Board, brokers or exporters, and does not relate the week’s rates to export earnings.
Single source. The Daily Mirror filed at 1.07 p.m. Colombo time on Saturday. Weekly auction reports of this kind are typically carried by one outlet at a time in this archive, as they originate from a broker’s circular rather than from independent reporting — a reader should treat this as one document reported once, not as corroborated reporting.