We were presented with a mixed bag of markets, showing price movements largely in line with expectation. Mombasa eased as did the main weight in North India and high grown tea in Colombo although low growns were dearer. Jakarta was irregular and the South Indian centres were largely dearer. We wrote last week about the current global supply / demand picture and our inclination to think that price resistance would be the predominant factor. This certainly seemed to be the case in some markets, Mombasa in particular and we expect that this will pertain for a little longer. CTC looks to have more downside bias than orthodox in the immediate future and we maintain our outlook of the markets remaining volatile at around or below current levels, CTC especially.

North America has been moderate and their thoughts are turning to the new Argentine season. UK / EU showed less and very selective interest. There was good demand from Pakistan packers in Mombasa, while the Bazaar & Afghanistan traders were shy of the market and operated in a limited way. Egypt went along at lower levels in Mombasa, content to see prices easing. Sudan and Kazakhstan were again very modest buyers in Kenya whilst Yemen and Somalia were steady players. Russian packers were quite active players in Colombo. In North India one of the main domestic packers was slower with Western India buyers busy at the top end.

Useful night rain continues in North India accompanied by scorching temperatures and crop is heavy. The weather in South India remains dry and crop is low. Kenya has been mostly dry with some showers and crop is steady. It remained dry in Malawi and leaf intakes are seasonally low. Bright weather and occasional evening showers in Sri Lanka have led to moderate crop. Indonesia has seen bright conditions in Java with some showers in Sumatra, crop is low. Vietnam leaf intakes are useful. Conditions are dry in Argentina and no early start to the season is expected.

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