Over 90 percent of Rwandan tea offered at the recent Mombasa auction was sold off. Rwanda once again sold the third most volume of tea after Uganda, while Kenya sold the most.

A report from the African Tea Brokers released recently said that Rwanda offered over 380,000 Kgs and sold off over 370,000 Kgs.

Overall tea prices rose to a record $3.12 a kilogram (2.2 pounds) at the world’s largest auction of the leaves in Mombasa, Kenya, Africa Tea Brokers said recently.

Average prices of the top grade advanced 5.8 percent at the sale on the 21st of December and the 22nd of the same month, the broker said in a statement this week.

Kenyan tea output rose 4.1 percent in November from a year earlier, the Tea Board of Kenya said. Output for the month brought cumulative production in the first 11 months of the year to 278 million kilograms, or 9 percent less than a year earlier, Managing Director Sicily Kariuki said today.

The report also said that Kenya produced 4 percent more tea in the month of November compared to the same month last year. Kenya’s total output was 35.8 million Kgs, 9 percent higher than in October.

"Higher production was due to favorable weather conditions experienced in tea growing areas following the onset of the short rains season,” the report said.

The Mombasa auction sells tea from most African producers, excluding South Africa and those in West Africa. Kenya accounts for about 70 percent of the volumes sold.

Some 21.0 million kgs of Kenyan tea were sold through the weekly auction in Mombasa, slightly lower than the 20.9 million kgs sold during the same month in 2008.

The average price was however higher at $3.10 per kg, compared with $1.88 last year.

Kenyan tea prices have hit record highs this year due to supply shortfalls following a prolonged drought in the country which is ranked the top exporter of black tea in the world.

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