The auctions of Coonoor Tea Trade Association (CTTA) for 2018 have begun on an encouraging note as the turnover in the opening month has increased by three per cent over January 2017.
In January, four weekly auctions had been held when, to kindle increased demand, producers sacrificed prices by ₹19.13 a kg. This helped the buyers purchase 0.91 million kg (mkg) more than in January 2017, our analysis of the market reports reveals.
The average prices dropped to ₹88.79 a kg from ₹107.92 in January 2017. This helped the volume purchased to rise to 4.53 mkg from 3.61 mkg.
Consequently, the overall turnover increased to ₹40.13 crore from ₹38.96 crore. This increase of ₹1.17 crore marked a growth of three per cent.
The increased earning of over a crore rupees in just one month lay spread among tea manufacturers, growers, brokers, warehouse keepers and workers.
If this trend continues, trade sources expect the overall turnover in the year to increase by ₹12 crore over 2017.