editor@themountainjournal.co.ke
The Mombasa Tea Auction this week auctioned 10,473,684 kgs, sourced from five countries, as the KTDA factories offered 4,546,424kgs.
In the market Imenti factory offered 79,516kgs , Kimunye 85,980kgs, Gathuthi 78,836kgs , Githongo 54,068kgs, Kiegoi 65,276kgs , Gacharage 47,033kgs, Ndima 37,400kgs , Kathangariri 73,676kgs, Mununga 50,300kgs.
Others were Ngere 85,556kgs and Rukuriri 47,760kgs that achieved the premier price of Sh425 per kg and Sh 396 per kg.
The KTDA managed factories, the report by the Tea Brokers East Africa Limited (TBEAL) stated that earned Sh 1.58 billion , compared to Sh 1.6 billion of last week after the sale of 4,606,209 kgs.
KTDA Zone six Board Member Enos Njeru said the small holder factories have continued producing the quality green leaf eying the local and international markets.
“ As the factories focus on the international markets, there are interventions being addressed to increase the local tea consumption,” said Mr Njeru.
The market report outlined that ktda managed actories that offered the highest volumes were Totor 127,508kgs, Mungania 124,892kgs, Kionyo 127,508kgs, and Momul 112,940kgs,
In the west of the rift, Momul factory took the lead by Sh 326 per each of the 112,940kgs, followed by Mokama factory 27,240kgs at Sh 321 per kg.
The report further outlines that 51 buyers participated in the local and international markets buying 136,360 packages of tea, as another 29,740 packages labeled unsold.
The auction report indicates that James Finlay bought 18,240 packages, followed by Global Tea 15,560 packages, Chai Trading 14,080 packages , Mitchell Cotts 10,800 packages, Aditya Birla 9,260 packages took the lead.
“In January, the market auctioned 35,031,737kgs of tea, where Kenya’s KTDA factories and independent producers have managed 28,383,278 kgs, Uganda 4,106,275 kgs,Rwanda 2,392,474 kgs,Tanzania 50,950 kgs and Burundi 95,976kgs,” read part of the report.