Auction tea sales down in Kenya
According to statistics from Tea Brokers East Africa, Kenya's tea auction sold 212.9 million kilograms of tea in the first nine months of 2009, down from 219.8 million handled during the same period last year. Lipton was the leading exporter with 46.5 million kg, followed by Global Tea, which took up 18.7 million kg. Tea bushes across most of east Africa have suffered in the last few months because of a devastating drought but prices for the best quality tea have benefited, rising to a record $4.47. The auction, based in the port city of Mombasa, sells tea from Kenya and other African countries such as Rwanda, Tanzania and Madagascar.