Bangladesh tea prices up on strong demand

DHAKA Jan 22 (Reuters) - Tea prices in Bangladesh rose at a weekly auction on Tuesday on strong demand from local buyers while sales volume also went up despite higher offerings, brokers said.

Tea prices slipped 2 percent in the previous two auctions, snapping around 40 percent gain over the last eight sessions.

The average price of Bangladeshi tea rose to 292.36 taka ($3.6) per kilogramme against 287.18 last week, an official at National Brokers Limited said.

Around 1.8 million kg of tea were offered at Bangladesh's sole auction centre in Chittagong, with 12.75 percent unsold, compared with 1.58 million kg offered with 17.52 percent unsold in the previous auction.

"Considering the time of the year, there were some useful tea on offer which were strongly competed for by the blenders resulting in further appreciation in price for these types," the National Brokers said in its market report.

Other varieties also sold well in line with quality, it added.

Around 1.6 million kg will be offered at the next auction on Jan. 29.

Tea sold at the Chittagong auction is mostly bought by domestic buyers.

Last January, Bangladesh's tax authority imposed a 25 percent duty on tea imports to safeguard the local industry.

The south Asian country produces 60 million kg of tea a year against demand of 56 million. Tea consumption is rising by 4.5 percent annually, in line with steady economic growth.

Following are the results of the auction in Bangladesh taka per kg.

BROKENS Bold/Large Brokens Not quoted Medium Brokens 282.00 - 287.00 Small Brokens 290.00 - 300.00 Plain Brokens 200.00 - 220.00 FANNINGS Best Fannings 300.00 - 310.00 Good Fannings 295.00 - 299.00 Medium Fannings 285.00 - 290.00 Plain Fannings 220.00 - 230.00

DUST Pekoe Dust Not quoted Red Dust 280.00 - 335.00 Dust 290.00 - 341.00 Churamoni Dust 250.00 - 336.00 (Reporting by Ruma Paul; editing by James Jukwey)