•Pakistan packers lent good support but at lower levels, the East African Tea Trade Association (EATTA) notes in its weekly market report.
•The South Asian country is the biggest export destination for Kenya’s tea, taking up 38 per cent of the total weekly sales at the Mombasa Tea Auction.
Tea prices at the Mombasa auction gained for the second week running despite depressed demand in some key markets due to inflation.
The commodity fetched $2.27 (Sh273.99) per kilo this week, market data shows, up from $2.25 (Sh271.57) last week, and $2.24 (Sh270) a kilo the previous week.
The strong price came despite reduced demand, as traders remained watchful on exports markets, with Pakistan’s flood and economic hurdles remaining a concern.
Pakistan is the biggest importer for Kenya’s tea, taking up 38 per cent of the total weekly sales at the Mombasa Tea Auction.
The South Asian country has witnessed extreme weather conditions since the start of the year, with recent floods leaving a third of the country underwater and leading to a humanitarian crisis.
The country has also experienced an economic downturn this year.
In mid-June, the Pakistan population was asked to reduce the amount of tea they drink to keep the country's economy afloat.
It is one of the world's largest importer of tea, buying in more than $600million (Sh72.4 billion) worth of the commodity last year.
Sipping fewer cups a day would cut Pakistan's high import bills, senior minister Ahsan Iqbal had said, a time when the country was struggling with depleted foreign currency reserves.
At this week’s auction, Pakistan packers lent good support but at lower levels, the East African Tea Trade Association (EATTA) notes in its weekly market report.
There was however maintained interest from UK.
Egyptian packers, Yemen, other Middle Eastern countries, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan and other CIS states showed reduced activity.
At present the CIS unites Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Ukraine.
“Sudan were less active while Iran lent more inquiry but at lower levels with a little activity noted from Russia and local packers. Somalia maintained interest at the lower end of the market,” EATTA managing director Edward Mudibo notes.
Volumes traded this week reduced fell by about 5.9 per cent., from 8.4 million kilos last week to 7.9 million kilos.
“There was reduced demand with prices showing easier tendencies for the 12, 077, 628 on offer. 120,480 packages (7,952,000 kilos) were sold with 33.56 per cent of packages remaining unsold,” EATTA said.
Next week’s sale will see an increase in volumes being offered for sale (12,181,172 kilos) which is an increase of 103,544 kilos from this week.
Meanwhile, the strong dollar to the shilling continues to assure farmers of higher returns this year compared to last year, with the local currency exchanging at 120.70 yesterday.
It was averaging 110 to a dollar in a similar period last year.
Tea remains a key foreign exchange earner for Kenya.
It accounted for 19.6 per cent of export volumes and was valued at Sh130.9 billion last year, the Economic Survey by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics indicates.