KTDA factories net Sh1.3b at the weekly auction

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The smallholder tea factories in the weekly tea market fetched Sh 1.37 billion after the auction of 4.1 million kilograms of tea at the Mombasa Tea Auction.

In the market, the factories under KTDA management that achieved the premier price were Gathuthi (Sh424 per kilo), Mununga (Sh424 per kg), Imenti (Sh399 per kilo), Kimunye (Sh396 per kilo), and Kiegoi (Sh398 per kilo).

Others were Rukuriri, which sold a kilo at Sh394 per kilo; Gacharage, Sh390 per kilo; Ngere, Sh388 per kilo; and Githongo, Sh387 per kilo.

Reports from the East African Tea Trade Association (EATTA) indicated that Makomboki (122,268 kg), Rukuriri (105,320 kg), Ngere (105,036 kg), and Thumaita (100,680 kg) presented the highest volumes of tea at the auction.

KTDA Holding Chairman Enos Njeru said buyers are interested in smallholder factories due to their high quality.

“The agriculture extension officers are duty-bound to visit farms in the catchment to ensure plucking of green leaf follows the laid-down procedures,” said Mr Njeru. Others in the Mt Kenya region were Ragati, which auctioned 32,680 kg, and Kanyenya Ini, 66,196 kg, which fetched better prices compared to those of last week. EATTA Managing Director George Omuga said the market offered 6.9 million kg from Kenya, which fetched a total of Sh 2.03 billion; Burundi Sh4.4 million; Rwanda Sh169.5 million; and Tanzania Sh143.4 million.

“Kenya produce was offered by the KTDA-managed factories and the independent producers,” said Omuga.

In the buyers’ category, the largest volume of tea was bought by Global Tea, 1,194,962 kg (that fetched Sh 339.1 million); Chai Trading, 1,024,686 kg (Sh314.5 million); James Finlay, 854,784 kg (Sh 237 million); and LAB International, 702,332 kg (Sh 194.7 million), among others.

The EATTA report stated that companies that bought tea at the highest price were Global Freight Solution at Sh374 per kilo, Devchand Keshavji (Kenya) at Sh 367 per kilo, Empire Kenya (EPZ) at Sh 356 per kilo, and AB Exports (Kenya) at Sh328 per kilo, among others.

At the same time, the cessation of hostilities in the Middle East is a relief to the tea sector, with the movement of produce that had piled up in the warehouses returning.