Commodities

Coonoor tea auction earnings down 27 per cent

PS Sunda Coonoor | Updated on June 16, 2020 Published on June 16, 2020

File photo   -  PTI

The nation-wide lockdown has taken a heavy toll on the earnings of the tea industry in the Nilgiris.

The producers and traders who sold their teas through the auctions of Coonoor Tea Trade Association (CTTA) till May have lost as much as ₹ 62.03 crore or 27 per cent compared to the same months of 2019.

This happened because only three auctions were conducted in March, and just one in April and four auctions were dropped before resuming in May.

Following the lockdown, the volume of tea coming up for the auctions suffered resulting in 1.92 crore kg being sold in the five months against 2.31 crore kg in January-May 2019.

Even this volume could be sold because the producers sacrificed their asking price to ₹87.39 a kg from ₹99.49 in the same period last year.

With 39 lakh kg less tea being sold at ₹12.10 less per kg, the overall earnings crashed to ₹167.79 crore from ₹229.82 crore. This marked a significant loss of ₹ 62.03 crore or 27 per cent.

During the lockdown till May, traders found it difficult to open shops in upcountry markets including Maharashtra, Gujarat, Delhi and Punjab besides the neighbouring Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Export orders were also minimal.

Published on June 16, 2020

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