Top price of Kenya's highest grade tea rises at auction

NAIROBI (Reuters) - The highest price for top-grade Kenyan tea rose at this week's sale to $4.00 per kg from $3.94 per kg last week, Tea Brokers East Africa said on Tuesday. Kenya is the world's leading exporter of black tea and the crop is a major foreign exchange earner for the country's economy, together with horticultural products and tourism. Best Broken Pekoe Ones fetched $2.76-$4.00 per kg compared with $2.50-$3.94 per kg last week. Best Brighter Pekoe Fanning Ones sold at $2.60-$2.78 per kg compared with $2.64-$2.90 per kg last week. Most of the tea offered at the Mombasa auction is from Kenya, but tea from Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and other regional producers is also sold. Kazakhstan dominated the auction while Egypt, Yemen and other Middle Eastern countries were well represented, Tea Brokers said in its report.