Lockdown in various states took a serious toll at Sale 20 of the auction of Coonoor Tea Trade Association (CTTA) when teas worth as much as ₹ 13.02 crore remained unsold as there were no takers for about 43 per cent of the offer despite the average price falling by ₹ 3 a kg over the previous sale to rule ₹ 122.79 a kg.
This meant that in just one week, the earnings at CTTA auctions had fallen by ₹ 4.80 crore or 21.13 per cent
Many high-priced teas were withdrawn for want of adequate bids.
Kodanad orthodox topped the auctions at ₹ 260 a kg followed by Chamraj ₹ 245 and Havukkal ₹ 220.
Among CTC teas, Pinewood Estate got ₹ 238, Crosshill Estate Special ₹ 231 and Riverside Estate ₹ 201.
“Due to lockdown in different states in the fight against Covid-19, many traders have to close down their shops. Consequently, buyers complain that they have not received payments for the teas already sold and hence they are unable to invest on more stocks now. There is a fund crunch”, CTTA Chairman L Vairavan told BusinessLine.
“Buyers also complain that in some cases the already bought teas have not reached their destination as minimal number of lorries are operating for long distances. Only about 30 per cent of the lorry drivers are reporting for work due to lockdown restrictions”, he noted.
“Warehouses and loading and unloading workers have also expressed problems of labour shortage due to the inability to travel to workplaces in view of the lockdown limitations”, he observed.
“These collectively resulted in low demand and poor absorption rate at our auctions this week”, he added.