Price of best Kenyan tea hits new record

NAIROBI (Reuters) - The price of best Kenyan Broken Pekoe tea (BP1s) rose for the second time at this week's auction in Mombasa, thanks to good demand, brokers said on Tuesday.

The average price for Best BP1s rose to $5.21 per kg from last week's $5.10, Africa Tea Brokers (ATB) said in a regular market report.

"(There was) good but irregular demand for the 93,510 packages (6.0 million kg) on offer with a few invoices remaining unsold (13.77 percent), ATB said.

Top Pekoe Fanning Ones (PF1s) saw the minimum price slide to $3.45 per kg with the maximum price rising to $4.00 compared with $3.64-$3.74 range per kg last week.

"Pakistan Packers were dominant while Egyptian Packers and Kazakhstan (CIS) re-entered the market and were cautious at the opening but were forceful towards the close," ATB added.

Kenya is the world's biggest exporter of black tea. A prolonged drought has cut output this year, helping to boost prices and earning s for the sector.