Tea Price Report | Episode 234 | Week 7 | Ending 13 February 2026 | Tea markets closed ISO Week 7 with a steadier tone as buyers continued to prioritize near-term cover and invoice certainty over forward risk, but showed slightly more willingness to compete when seasonal leaf and clean manufacture were evident.
Across origins, demand remained decisively quality-led: well-made teas cleared consistently, average descriptions met selective enquiry, and plainer invoices faced widening resistance, reinforcing dispersion within catalogues rather than uniform strength.
Buyer participation remained concentrated, with fewer hands setting the clearing level across several catalogues, leaving secondary lines to trade unevenly, especially where liquidity grades dominated offerings.
Exporter discipline persisted, supported by currency dynamics and elevated input costs, which limited the willingness to accept discounts and kept price floors intact even where demand for off-grades softened.
In Colombo, the early-season uplift in select high-grown and bright liquoring teas continued to anchor sentiment, while low-grown segments remained more invoice-specific and sensitive to buyer replacement alternatives.
Prices averaged USD 3.14/kg (Week 7) | USD 3.15/kg (prior week)
In North India, Assam liquidity grades continued to function as the price-setting mechanism, with buying largely contractual and execution-driven rather than speculative.
Prices averaged USD 2.01/kg (Week 7) | USD 2.02/kg (prior week)
In East Africa, competitive bidding concentrated around proven BP1/PF1 and clean dusts, while plainer lots saw wider bid-ask gaps, consistent with a market that is clearing volume but rewarding specification.
Prices averaged USD 2.22/kg (Week 7) | USD 2.21/kg (prior week)
Auction pricing in Indonesia remained secondary to contract and direct sales activity, with selective interest focused on specialty lots and improvement teas. Where spot buying did appear, it was disciplined and specification-led rather than broad-based.
Prices averaged USD 1.19/kg (Week 7) | USD 1.18/kg (prior week)
Overall, headline averages again masked the real signal: the spread between “must-own” teas and undifferentiated teas widened, and that dispersion is increasingly the durable feature of price discovery. | This week’s Tea Price Report is sponsored by the East Africa Tea Trade Association (EATTA), owners of the Mombasa Tea Auction since 1956. | Podlink signup: https://pod.link/1549975153
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