By Nelson Mandela MuhoozI
Uganda’s tea prices are witnessing a steady improvement at the Mombasa Tea Auction.
In Sale Number 41, which concluded on October 8, 2024, Uganda’s average tea price rose to $1.05 per kilogram, marking a 2 US cent increase from the previous week.
Onesimus Matsiko, a tea sector expert and tea farmer said this milestone represents the third consecutive week in which Uganda’s tea prices have remained above the one-dollar mark.
According to the Uganda hammer prices date from the sale, of the 41 factory marks sold, 25 exceeded a dollar per kilogram, reflecting a significant improvement compared to a period of over a year when the average price was consistently below one dollar.
By comparison, Kenya’s tea prices averaged $2.27 per kilogram, a slight drop from $2.28 the previous week, while Rwanda’s teas saw a modest increase to $3.34 from $3.32 the prior week.
Performance over three years
A year-to-date analysis of Mombasa auction prices from January to September over the past three years shows Uganda’s tea prices have demonstrated the least resilience among East Africa’s three major tea-producing nations.
In the first nine months of 2022, Uganda’s average tea price stood at $1.33 per kilogram. By 2023, this figure had fallen to $1.08, and in 2024, it dropped further to $0.81, a total decline of $0.52 per kilogram over two years.
In contrast, Kenya’s tea prices decreased by $0.33, falling from $2.49 in 2022 to $2.19 in 2024.
Rwanda’s tea prices, however, bucked the trend, rising from $2.29 in 2022 to $2.86 in 2024, demonstrating stronger market resilience.
LEAD PHOTO CAPTION: Onesmus Masiko, the Chairperson of the Uganda Tea Outgrowers Association (UTOA). Photo by Nelson Mandela Muhoozi
