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| Sunday, 14 September 2003 |
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| News Business Features Editorial
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Record prices at tea auctions by Elmo Leonard A record price of Rs 5000 per kilogram was obtained for a line of Flowery Broken Orange Pekoe Fannings Special tea from Lumbini Estate, Deniyaya at the Colombo Tea Auctions last week. This was an all-time-high for this grade of speciality tea. Plantation companies are now attempting to produce speciality teas and gain premium prices. The buyer was Ranfer Teas and the broker, Asia Siyaka. Meanwhile, the Eastern or Uva-Udapussellawa plantations' quality tea season is in full swing and teas, which were earlier sold at Rs 100 per kilo, fetched Rs 200 to Rs 700 per kilo last week, Colombo Brokers Association, Chairman, Anil Cooke said. These Broken Orange Pekoes and BOP Fannings would appreciate in price with dry weather prevailing in the Eastern plantations. Among the bidders for these seasonal quality Uva-Udapussellawa teas were the UK, Germany, Japan, Russia and the Netherlands. There was also widespread demand for a range of speciality grades from the Uva region such as Orange Pekoes, Fannings, BOPs and Pekoes. Last week, a line of Broken Orange Pekoes from St James Estate in Haliyalla in the Uva plantations was sold at Rs 700 per kilo, a record for the season. The estate is managed by Malwatte Valley Plantations Ltd and the broker for the tea was Bartleet. The quality tea season is expected to last till early October and progressive price increases are expected if dry weather persists. Bartleet General Manager, Haroon Musafer said: "Three weeks from now, prices of these seasonal teas entering the Colombo auctions would be unbelievably high". Prolonged dry weather, cold nights and desiccating winds have, in the past few years, sent seasonal tea prices over the Rs 1000 per kilo mark. On the Central or Nuwara Eliya plantations, BOPs and BOPFs reached Rs 200 to Rs 300 per kilogram last week, while the same teas from the Western or Dimbulla-Dikoya plantations reached Rs 175 to Rs 200 per kilo. The arrival of the quality Eastern season has been welcomed by the industry at a time up-country tea plantations are experiencing massive losses due to the high cost of tea production. Cooke said that dry weather would increase the cost of production by 50 per cent, but price boosts would be much higher. |
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