ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lankan tea prices rose sharply in August this year from a year ago, helped by demand from oil producing countries after a recovery in oil prices, brokers said.
The Colombo tea auction average for August 2017 of Rs606.86 a kilo was up Rs133.08 or 28 percent from Rs473.78 in August 2016, Forbes & Walker Tea Brokers said.
“Global oil prices often have an impact on Sri Lanka tea prices, with almost 7 percent of Sri Lanka’s tea exporters being absorbed by these oil rich countries,” they said in a report.
They noted the increase in oil prices by 4 percent in July 2017 to $46.93 per barrel on month-on-month basis after two consecutive months of sharp declines.
During the latter part of August, there was a further 9 percent increase in oil prices to $51.87 per barrel and a further gain to the current $54 per barrel.
Forbes & Walker Tea Brokers said prices of teas from all three elevations rose during August, with the biggest gains in the high-grown varieties.
The brokers said prices were higher than a year ago even in US dollar terms.
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