Sri Lanka's Priciest Orthodox Teas Go Unsold at Colombo's Sale No. 27
High-priced Western orthodox and rotovane lots found no buyers for lack of suitable bids at the July 14-15 auction, even as broader grades held steady and China's Ceylon tea imports slipped for a second straight reading.
Sri Lanka's Colombo auction sent its priciest lots home unsold last week. At Sale No. 27, held July 14 and 15, the high-priced orthodox and rotovane teas from the Western slopes, the traditional rolled-leaf grades that usually command the top of the auction, were "substantially easier and often unsold," the report showed, for the plain reason that no suitable bids came in.
The sale offered 6.2 million kilograms in all, 5.5 million of it fresh tea, so the weakness was not for want of tea in the room. It was concentrated at the expensive end.
Below that top tier, the market held. BOPF, a fine broken grade sold as loose particles, drew a premium of Rs. 100 to 150 per kilo (about US$0.35 to US$0.50) over comparable BOP, the slightly larger broken grade.
CTC teas, the crushed grade that dominates everyday blends, sold at roughly the previous week's levels across high and medium grown. Low grown firmed, with marginal gains on select invoices.
The soft spots were specific. Nuwara Eliya remained sluggish, and in Uva and Uda Pussellawa the better teas were firm and marginally easier while the poorer sorts declined quite sharply.
Demand this sale was selective rather than absent. Shippers to the UK, the continent and South Africa bought carefully, the report noted, with fair interest from Japan and less activity from China. Buying for the CIS and Middle East ran as usual, if often at lower levels.
China's own trade figures, from a separate monthly report, tell their own story: in May the country took 4.04 million kilograms of Ceylon tea, 4 percent less than a year earlier, enough to hold only fifth place among destinations.
The pattern is worth naming. When bids thin, it is the dearest tea that clears last.
Sources: Tea Exporters Association Sri Lanka, Weekly Market Report; Tea Exporters Association Sri Lanka, Monthly Export Report, May 2026.