Tea prices at the Mombasa auction have declined below the Shs 279 per kilo set by the Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA).
According to the East African Tea Trade Association, a kilo of tea sold at Sh 262 during the auction held last week an increase from Sh260.7 from the previous sale.
The decrease in prices has led to fewer sales at the auction as more traders have withdrawn their commodity waiting for the prices to shoot.
During the last tea auction, traders withdrew 4.7 million kilograms of tea from the auction.
KTDA introduced a minimum reserve price of processed tea in a move aimed at cushioning smallholder farmers who were affected by the deteriorating market that had seen selling prices nearly slip below the cost of production.