Nairobi — Tea prices at the weekly Mombasa auction dipped slightly this week amid decreased demand for the commodity.
At this week's auction, a kilo averaged USD2.20(Sh262.13) up from USD2.22(Sh264.51) last week.
In this week's auction, the total volume traded was 511,255 kilos less than last week, the East African Tea Trade Association (EATTA)notes.
There was a general demand for the 183,875 packages (11,934,317.00 kilos) available for sale. 125,799 packages (8,250,406 Kilos) were sold with 31.58 per cent of packages remaining unsold.
The price of the beverage has continued to defy the minimum price of $2.45 (Sh291.9) set by the government last year.
The last time, the price of tea at the auction remained above the minimum price was five months ago.
During the week, Pakistan Packers and Bazaar lent good support but at lower levels with maintained activity from Egyptian Packers while Kazakhstan, other CIS states, and the UK showed more interest.
EATTA noted that Yemen and other Middle Eastern countries were active but selective with reduced enquiry from Sudan.
"Afghanistan was less active while Local Packers saw improved interest. Russia and Iran were absent. Somalia maintained enquiry at the lower end of the market," said EATTA managing director Edward Mudibo.