Tea prices went up by 1.55% in 2019

The average price of Indian tea at the auctions has witnessed a marginal increase of 1.55 per cent in 2019 even though the cost of production has gone up significantly. A kilo gram of tea fetched a price of Rs 140.73 as against Rs 138.57 per kg in 2018.

Last year, premium orthodox tea prices had fetched better prices as Iran bought huge quantities. In 2019, Iran had bought 53.45 million kg of orthodox teas as compared to 30.78 million kg in 2018, a 74 per cent rise. Exporters were also able to garner a price of Rs 275.68 per kg in Iran's market, which is 8 per cent higher than in 2018.

CTC teas, which constitute a bulk of the country’s tea production, were not able to do well in the international markets as Kenya offered the same quality teas at a much lower price due to the African nation's huge stocks of CTC teas. Average price of CTC teas had fallen as low as $1.8-2 per kg.

Indian tea prices, on the contrary, were higher and therefore suffered in the world markets. Also, rising tensions with neighbouring nation Pakistan impacted tea exports from the country. Exports to Pakistan dropped to 6.23 million kg in 2019 from 15.84 million kg in 2018.

Also countries like Kazakhstan, UK, UAE, USA and China bought lesser quantities of CTC teas from India.