Siliguri Tea Auction Centre. A file picture

Siliguri, June 11: About 100 people participated in the first Instant Auction (IA) sale of tea at Siliguri Tea Auction Centre where most brokers and major institutional buyers were conspicuous by their absence today.

“About 90 per cent (89.6 per cent) of the stocks sold out at an average price of Rs 86.68 per kilo,” said Ravi Agarwal, a buyer-member and former chairman of Siliguri Tea Auction Committee (Stac). “The average price of the tea is fair enough,” he added.

Only two of the seven brokers and one major institutional blender participated in the auction. “It is mainly for two reasons,” an official with a multinational tea company said.

“First, we do not buy tea at this time of the year and second, IA poses some operational problems in that it is not possible for us to complete the testing of samples in such a short time,” he added.

“The response to the first IA from both buyers and sellers’ sides is encouraging,” said S.K. Saria, the chairman of the Stac.

“Now let us look forward to the June 18 meeting of all stakeholders organised by the Tea Board of India in Calcutta. The meet will decide whether clearance should be given to the new system,” said Saria.

After giving its no-objection, the Tea Board last week asked Stac to put on hold the implementation of the IA because of some last-moment reservations expressed by some producers’ associations. But by then, 74,500kg of tea (2,435 packages) worth Rs 70 lakh was already stocked in the warehouses; sampling and cataloguing complete.

Considering the appeals from stakeholders, the board allowed Stac to hold today’s auction. “The permission is only for the first sale,” Saria said. “The approval for the programme will come after the June 18 meeting.”

“Considering that it is the first auction that, too, held with such a short notice period, the performance was good,” said Probir Seal, president of North Bengal Tea Producers’ Association. The association of bought-leaf factories (a large chunk of these teas are sold through private sale) was one of those in favour of IA.

“Compared to private sale, IA brings in more transparency and regularity and with today’s sale, the industry has given a clear message that it is for the new system because it is a win-win situation for all concerned,” Anand Agarwal, a seller member of Stac, said.