Sri Lanka Low Grown Ceylon Teas Pick Up

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka’s high priced Low Grown teas prices picked in the first auction of September, while cheaper high grown teas too made gains in the auctions during the first of September, brokers said.

Sri Lanka sold 6.2 million kilograms of tea, selling 0.8 million kilograms in Ex-Estate teas (teas sold while in the factory itself to retain quality) while selling 2.7 million kilograms in Low Grown (Leafy/Tippy) teas.
Sri Lanka sold 5.9 million kilograms of tea in the auction held in the previous week.

Low Growns

Last week the Low Grown tea sale average was 648.52 rupees up down by 21.01 rupees from a week earlier.

A few Best BOPF teas maintained last week’s prices while others were irregular.

Select Best BOP’s which commenced firm, appreciated as the sale progressed. Below Best maintained.
Cleaner teas at the bottom too were firm.

Better OP’s were firm and made selective gains later on. Others were not steady.

Select Best OPAs and improved Below Bests went up as the rest were not steady. At the lower end, cleaner types maintained flat prices.

Select Best FBOP’s prices gained while Best and well made cleaner teas in the Below Best categories too appreciated, particularly for the bolder varieties. Cleaner teas at the bottom too gained.

Well made FF1’s sold on last auction levels while Best and Below Best prices came down. Cleaner teas at the bottom were stable in FBOPF/FBOPF1 categories.

High Growns

Last week, the High Grown auction average was tea sale average of 541.87 rupees.

BOP Best Westerns gained 30-50 rupees a kilogram and more for select invoices following special inquiry. Teas in the Below Best category gained 20 rupees per kilogram while plainer sorts picked up 10-20 rupees a kilogram.

BOP Nuwara Eliyas gained 30-40 rupees a kilogram.

Uda Pussellawa neat leaf teas were up by 20 rupees and more at times, whereas others were not steady. Better BOP Uva teas appreciated 10-30 rupees a kilogram.

In BOPF grades, Best Westerns gained 20-30 rupees a kilogram and substantially more on select invoices, particularly as the sale progressed. Coloury, clean teas in the Below Best category gained 50 rupees a kilogram, while teas at the lower end which commenced 10-20 rupees up and appreciated further by 20-30 rupees as the sale progressed.

BOPF Nuwara Eliyas gained 50 rupees.
BOPF Uda Pussellawa clean leaf types were up to 20 rupees up while the others were generally firm. Uva select clean leaf teas gained 20-40 rupees a kilogram, whilst the others were firm and went up by a lesser extent.

Medium Growns

Last week, the Medium Grown auction average was 523.15 rupees down 17.99 rupees from a week before.

Well-made OP/OPA’s were firm to easing this week. Others together with teas at the lower end too eased 10-20 rupees a kilogram.

BOP teas were firm and 10-20 rupees up while BOPF grades commenced firm gained 10-20 rupees, brokers said.

Select Best FBOPs eased as others were firm to marginally easing.

Well-made FF1’s declined sharply as others went down by 10-20 rupees a kilogram and more at times.

CTC

In CTC teas, high grown BP1s eased while well-made PF1s were steady and others declined 10-20 rupees.

Mid grown BP1 prices were irregular while PF1 teas went down by 10-20 rupees a kilogram, brokers said.



Low grown BP1s made irregular gains, PF1s commenced around last week levels and gained 20-30 rupees.

Crop and weather

Isolated showers and strong winds are expected in both Nuwara Eliya and a few sub districts regions during the week ahead according to the Department of Meteorology.

The Department of Meteorology predicted thundershowers in the Uva Region in the week ahead and fairly heavy showers in the Sabaragamuwa and Ruhuna regions in the week ahead.

The Western and Nuwara Eliya regions reported dull and rainy weather throughout the week, whilst a few subdistricts in the Western Region experienced bright mornings and overcast evenings.

Uva and Udapussellawa regions reported bright and warm weather in the mornings and overcast evenings with occasional showers during the week.

Rainy weather was reported in the Low Grown Region.

All High Grown regions maintained the crop intake, while the Low Grown Region experienced a decrease.

Global markets

The Mombasa auction reported fairly good general demand for the 137,167 packages on offer with only 22.04 percent of it ending up unsold.

Jakarta auction reported a total of 5,940 packages sold in this week’s auction. (Colombo/Sep14/2020)