Thu. Mar 28th, 2024

For Sale 49 at auctions of the Coonoor Tea Trade Association (CTTA) teas worth ₹3.24 crore remained unsold as there were no takers for about 23 per cent of the offer, The Hindu Businessline reported.

A small-scale bought leaf factory, Homedale Tea Factory, fetched top prices for its CTC teas. Of them, Homedale Red Dust tea, auctioned by Global Tea Brokers, topped the entire auction when J P Enterprises bought it for ₹271 a kg. Homedale Super Red Dust tea, auctioned by Global Tea Brokers, followed at ₹266, the report said.

The highest price fetched by orthodox teas from corporate sector was ₹257 by Kodanad. Chamraj got ₹254, Kairbetta ₹243, Nonsuch orthodox ₹228 and Glendale ₹216.

For Sale 48 of the auctions of CTTA held in November a volume of 16.69 lakh kg had been catalogued. Of the 16.69 lakh kg offered, as much as 15.39 lakh kg belongs to CTC variety and 1.30 lakh kg are of orthodox variety, another report by the newspaper said.

In order to meet market demand, CTC teas are produced by means of a more advanced method at a faster rate than orthodox ones.
The latter are harvested in a traditional method and their production takes time and needs more human labour. These blends are processed by hand to get the whole leaves. As compared to CTC blends, Orthodox teas produce more authentic tea experience.

Both in leaf and dust grades, the proportion of orthodox teas continues to be low. In the leaf counter, only 81,000 kg belongs to orthodox, while CTC has 10.76 lakh kg. Among the dusts, only 49,000 kg belongs to orthodox while 4.63 lakh kg, CTC, the report said.

In all, 11.57 lakh kg belongs to Leaf grades and 5.12 lakh kg, Dust grades.

The CTC Pekoe Dust tea auctioned by Global Tea Brokers, topped the entire auctions in late November when Benniel and Co bought it for ₹277 a kg. “Homedale Super Red Rust grade followed at ₹257. In the CTC Leaf tea auctions, two grades of Homedale teas, auctioned by Global Tea Brokers topped at ₹231 and ₹226 each,” the report suggested.

The cumulative turnover at the auctions of Coonoor Tea Trade Association (CTTA) till October last year had increased by 7.62 per cent over the same period of 2017 with record price set up by Avataa Beverages at ₹2,401 a kg – the highest price fetched by any tea from any factory in any regular auction in any centre anywhere in South India, the newspaper said.

In 2017, auctions were ground post implementation of Goods and Services Tax. According to the South India Tea Exporters’ Association, the issue was due to the new system in place, which actually mandates a different buying system for the Coimbatore and Coonoor auctions when compared to the those held in Kolkata, Guwahati, Siliguri and Kochi, The New Indian Express reported.

Buyers, including exporters, this year, contented that in view of the economic slowdown, the Centre should take steps to make adequate funds available to them to invest in high-priced teas. Government-owned Tamil Nadu Tea Plantation Corporation (TANTEA) was initiated in 1960s to rehabilitate Sri Lankan repatriates trained in the fine art of tea culture. It now has more than 440 supporting staff and nearly 9000 workers. If funds crunch continues, sources say, these workers fear that TANTEA will be sold to private companies.

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