Sri Lanka tea prices hit new monthly high

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lankan tea prices at the Colombo auctions hit a new monthly high in October 2016 as volumes fell while demand picked up, brokers said.

“Auction averages reached record levels in the backdrop of a sharp decline in availability,” Forbes & Walker Tea brokers said.

“The auction average for the month of October totalled Rs550.92 a kilo vis-à-vis Rs390.13 as of October 2015, showing a substantial gain of Rs160.79, establishing the highest-ever average for a calendar month.”

The brokers said this was the second consecutive month where the auction average price rose to a new high, the previous best being September 2016 when the  average realised  was Rs.512.03 a kilo.

“It is also commendable that all three elevations have recorded the highest  averages for a calendar month,” they said.

The auction average for High Growns of Rs523.88 have shown a gain of Rs117.02 vis-à-vis Rs406.86 as of October 2015, while Mediums averaging Rs487.34 have shown a gain of Rs131.69 vis-à-vis Rs355.65 as of October 2015.

Low Grown teas with a substantial gain of Rs179.95 have recorded an average of Rs572.15 for October 2016 vis-à-vis Rs392.20 as of October 2015.

“These levels are significantly higher than the corresponding month of 2015 even in US dollar terms,” ,” Forbes & Walker Tea brokers said. “Furthermore, these levels show a fairly significant gain over 2014 levels in Rs/USD terms.” (COLOMBO, Nov 03, 2016)