Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Green tea to debut at the Colombo auctions

By Steve A. Morrell

Midst optimism in market trends for tea, the newest addition to the Colombo tea compendium would be green tea, which is expected to be included in weekly auctions by next week. The production of green tea up to end June this year stood at almost 1.6 million kilos.

Buoyancy in tea circles is that green tea will feature significantly in the auctions particularly because growing hype that green tea is a health beverage could make a big difference to the auctions. Quite apart from touted health properties, green tea is doubtless an exclusive beverage elevated to level five in distinctiveness.

Brokers are of the view these could be positive harbingers for the salability of Ceylon Tea.

However, they conceded that Ceylon tea was expensive. Colombo is now the most expensive tea sales site in the world which is not good in terms of marketing trends, because other trade centres, such as Mombasa in Kenya, offer cheaper teas, and are progressively eating into our buyer list.

The Sri Lanka Tea Board (SLTB), indicated that the Colombo Tea Traders Association, (CTTA) were permitted to auction green tea from this month.

Optimism was high in Tea circles that 2010 could be another record year for tea production. Here again, there was caution. They said vagaries of weather could influence such crop intakes, but trends were quite healthy.

According to SLTB data, cumulative production to end June was 166. 8 million kilos, as against 132. 3 million kilos for the corresponding period of last year.

However more fancied Regional Plantation Companies are yet in the lower cropping scale. High growns have not as yet recorded higher crop patterns. To date, low grown crop intakes to end June amounted to 96.6 million kilos, which was an all time high at this elevation.

Director Ceylon Tea Brokers PLC, Brian Baptist confirmed that although some 8 million kilos were on offer this week market trends were good. However, the Uva season would be short because of wet weather experienced in the Malwatte Valley and the upper reaches of the Bandarawela plateau. So too higher tracts of the Madulsima High Lands.

The SLTB also reported production of bio-tea presently at about 534, 349, kilos.

Bio Tea costs were high, but sales prices were at higher level as they are targeted at selected clientele who pay high prices for these teas.

The tea mix at the Colombo auctions have provoked wider enquiry among foreign buyers. Summer buying in Europe boosted instant tea sales.

As for dollar earnings, the rupee appreciated over the past few weeks, and a dollar is around Rs.112; signaling appreciation of about Rs. 1 on the dollar (US).

But simultaneously, brokers were optimistic of reaching 1 billion dollars this year. But at what cost was the question they harbored.

source - www.island.lk

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