Tea auction

The Mountain Journal

editor@themountainjournal.co.ke 

Mombasa tea auction last week sold 8,309,566 kgs of the commodity to the local and international buyers.

 In the sale Kenya sold 7,360,618 kgs packed into 106,960 packages, followed by Uganda with 666,939 kgs.

In the weekly market reports, other  countries that participated are  Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi that presented at the auction 18,200 kgs, 222,581 kgs  and 42,228 kgs respectively.

 The report from the East Africa Tea Trade Association indicated that between January to date 460,900,986 kgs have been sold through the Mombasa auction  from the  five countries.

In the reports, since January 383,558,976 kgs from Kenya has been sold through the auction facility.

In the market that attracted 55 buyers, in the weekly market Global Teas and Commodities bought  the highest volumes of 14,680 packages, followed by LAB International 11,340 packages, Devchand Keshaviji 8,400 packages among others.

Peter Karomo a tea value chain expert said Mombasa is a major business hub thus a preferred choice of tea market as in the previous week sold 8,765,320 kgs of the commodity, with Kenya farmers producing 6,786,916 kgs.

 Kenya, he said,  over the years sells more tea than other countries that used the Mombasa tea auction.

“In the sale 43  there were 49 tea buyers  as compared to 55 who participated in last week’s auction,” said Karomo.

KTDA Holding Chairman Enos Njeru appreciated the smallholder tea growers for their tireless efforts in production of the quality teas.

“ The small scale farmers produce more than the estates. We encourage our farmers on production of the quality green leaf  for better returns,” said Njeru.