NAIROBI: Strong demand from Egypt lifted Kenyan tea prices at this week's auction after relative calm returned to the country following the resignation of president Hosni Mubarak, brokers said on Wednesday. Egypt is the leading buyer of Kenya's tea. Africa Tea Brokers (ATB) said there was strong demand for the 146,343 packages on offer, with 26,570 left unsold, compared with 131,177 offered and 32,685 unsold at the previous sale. "We saw about 10-12 percent increased demand from Egypt but Pakistan bought less this week compared with last week, causing irregularity of the sales," said Peter Kimanga, tea manager at Global Tea and Commodities Kenya. Kimanga said there was higher volumes of tea on offer due to accumulated stock meant for Egypt, which went unsold in the three weeks Egyptians were protesting for the exit of Mubarak. Best Pekoe Fanning Ones fetched $3.50-$3.86 per kg, unchanged from last week, while Best BP1s sold at $3.43-$3.78 per kg from $3.36-$3.76 at the last session. Brighter PDUSTs and DUSTS1s, which are mainly bought by Egypt, were a strong feature in this week's auction. Best PDUSTs fetched $3.32-3.54 per kg from $3.24-$3.28 last week, while Best DUST1s sold at $3.38-3.65 per kg from $3.24-$3.44 previously. ATB said Yemen and other Middle Eastern countries, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Russia, the Pakistan Bazaar and United Kingdom also bought more tea than last week. "Most of the buyers prefer fresh tea, compared with the accumulated old tea, which also causes irregularity since some had to sell at discounted prices," said Kimanga.
