Tea Prices Rise Marginally at The Mombasa Auction

Data from the East African Tea Trade Association (EATA) shows that tea prices at the Mombasa auction rose marginally in the last week’s sale to hit $2.25 (272 shillings),  from $2.24 (269 shillings) that was fetched in the previous sale.

This was helped by strong support from key buyers. The auction also recorded an increase in the volume of tea offered for sale, which was 276,000 more than the previous trading.

Buyers who were present in the last week’s sale include Pakistan, Yemen, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, and other middle east countries.

“Egyptian Packers maintained inquiry but at lower levels while UK and Sudan showed selective interest. Russia and Iran were quiet while local packers showed some activity,” said Eatta.

Tea prices at the weekly Mombasa auction have been dwindling in the last seven months due to continuous disruptions in the global markets. The Russia-Ukraine war led to the blockage of shipping routes of the beverage to Kenya’s key markets.

The Tea Board of Kenya confirmed that there was a huge decline in Russia’s earnings in March, with the volumes sinking to 686,072 from 2.6 million kilos sold in a similar period last year.

Pakistan which is the top buyer at the Mombasa auction has also cut consumption of the beverage citing financial uncertainties. According to EATTA, Pakistan is the biggest buyer at the Mombasa Tea Auction, taking up 38 percent of the total weekly sales.

However, this year Kenyan tea has managed to remain above two dollars per kilo as compared to last year when the prices ranged between $1.80 (215.28 shillings) and $1.90 (227.24shillings ).

This has primarily been helped by the minimum reserve price of $2.43 (275 shillings) per kilogram that the government introduced last year at the Mombasa tea auction to curb declining earnings by the small-scale growers.

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