The floods in Kerala and parts of Tamil Nadu covering Valparai have caused a shortfall in the supply of tea from these regions and to that extent increased the demand for the teas at Coonoor Tea Trade Association.

“We have been noticing an increase in the demand for the teas from The Nilgiris at the CTTA Auctions due to short supplies from the flood-hit regions. This has a dual effect – on the one hand, the prices are showing a sharp upward trend. They now average at 18-week high and some ₹ 20 per kg more than the level this time last year. On the other, despite the price hike, the absorption rate is also high. Now, as much as 95 per cent of the teas on offer are being absorbed – the highest percentage of the last 13 weeks”, Nishant Vakharia, CTTA Chairman told Business Line .

“In view of the adversity of the floods, the arrival of teas for the auctions in the flood-hit areas has reduced considerably. To that extent, we anticipate further increase in the demand for the teas offered for sale at CTTA auctions”, he noted.

Meanwhile, the rains in the North East monsoon belts of The Nilgiris during the recent South West rains have brightened the prospects for the supply of quality teas in the weeks to come. “We have received welcome showers all through August. This has increased the moisture content of the soil. Accordingly, the succulence of the leaves has increased. This will lead to improvement in the quality of the specialty teas we produce ahead of winter”, G Udayakumar, Director, Avataa Beverages, said.

“We anticipate an increase of 25 per cent in production this calendar over 2017 due to the recent rains”, he said.

“If the forthcoming North East monsoon is also favourable, the production and hence the availability of quality teas in the market will be more . We have encouraging export enquiries. The need of the hour is matching prices for the quality teas”, D Hegde, former President of UPASI and Director of UNITEA at Chamraj Estate said.

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