Rwanda tea prices at the weekly Mombasa tea auction slightly appreciated from $2.37 to $2.56 on average per kilogram for the BP1 grades. The price increase is attributed to the low supply of tea at the auction due to low production in the East Africa region.Tea traders partly attribute the shrinking supply to the dry weather conditions which is suppressing production of tea. The price of BP1 grade from Gisovu tea factory increased from $3.02 to $3.1 while Mulindi factory tea was selling at $2.5 from last week’s $2.02. Shagasha factory BP1 grade maintained a $2.1price per kilogram. Gisakura factory BP1 grade sold at $2.4 per kilogram with Kitabi and Mata selling at $2.76 per kilogram and $2.5 per kilogram respectively. In general, PF1 grades increased from $2.5 per kilogram on average to $2.56 per kilogram. Information from African Tea Brokers (ATB) shows a decline in supply of 1,155 packages from 120,642 packages (7.9 million kilograms) last week. The situation, according to analysts will push tea prices even much higher in the near future. This will mount pressure on farmers with less capacity to satisfy the increasing demand. About 70 per cent of Ocir-The’s produce is sold through the weekly Mombasa tea auction and the remaining 30 per cent is by direct sales at Mombasa and local sales to importers. Ends
