This archive report was first published on 11 June 2020.
Published on June 11, 2020, the Mombasa tea auction has seen a significant withdrawal of tea in the last two sales due to a decline in demand.
According to the East African Tea Trade Association, in the last three weeks, traders withdrew 20 percent of the tea from the auction floor as the price of the commodity dipped to Sh188 from Sh192 last week.
The prices have been falling in the last two months, hitting a low of Sh188, down from Sh220 in April, which was the highest point achieved this year.
Out of 186,024 packages (12,341,823 kilos) available for sale, 141,920 packages (9,505,801 kilos) were sold, with 23.71 percent of the packages going unsold, as stated by the East African Tea Traders Association.
The decline in prices occurred despite a reduction in volumes compared to the previous sale, with 110,000 kilos less offered for sale.
The low demand in the market has been attributed to the outbreak of Covid-19, which has slowed purchases at the auction.
Tea exports to Kenya's top three markets declined significantly in the first quarter, with exports to Pakistan dipping by 15 percent, and Egypt and the United Kingdom recording a decline of 10 percent each.
