This archive report was first published on 24 August 2020.
On August 24, 2020, tea prices at the Mombasa auction continued to rise, marking a fifth consecutive week of price increases.
According to a market report from the East African Tea Traders Association (Eatta), the price of a kilogram of tea averaged Sh210 last week, up from Sh203 in the previous sale.
The increased demand for Kenyan tea has been driven by low prices at the auction, with top buyers such as Pakistan and the UK increasing their purchases in recent weeks.
Tea production in the first half of 2020 grew by 41 percent, thanks to good weather in the first quarter, resulting in one of the highest volumes of tea production in recent years.
However, the increased demand has led to a decline in volumes at the Mombasa auction, with 20 percent fewer tea bags being withdrawn from the market last week compared to the previous sale.
Despite the decline in volumes, the total amount of tea traded at the auction last week still reached 7.2 million kilos, down from 8.0 million kilos in the previous sale.
