Kenyan top grade tea prices dip at latest sale

Reuters

NAIROBI (Reuters) - The average price of Kenya's top grade Broken Pekoe Ones tea dipped to $3.97 per kg at this week's auction from $4.03 per kg last week, Africa Tea Brokers (ATB) said on Tuesday. Kenya is the world's top black tea exporter and tea is a leading foreign exchange earner in east Africa's largest economy. ATB said Best Broke Pekoe Ones sold at $3.10-$4.84 per kg, from $3.40-$4.65 per kg last week. Brighter Pekoe Fanning Ones (PF1s) fetched $2.20-$2.80 per kg, compared with $2.25-$2.90 per kg a week ago. Of the 104,558 packages on sale, 23.62 percent went unsold. Last week, 117,377 packages were offered for sale with 23.49 percent left unsold. Kenya's tea export earnings are forecast to rise 9 percent year-on-year in 2013 to 122 billion shillings, the industry regulator said on Tuesday.