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COLOMBO, Dec 8 (Reuters): Sri Lankan tea prices rose at auction this week due to demand from the Middle East, European and Russian buyers ahead of the winter season, brokers said Wednesday.
"There was demand for low-grown teas from Iran and the Middle East while European and Russian buyers boosted the demand for other teas," Director of Forbes and Walker tea brokers Yshan Fernando said.
"The demand is basically driven by the winter season ahead and buyers from Russia and the former Soviet states replenishing stocks."
Russia and the former Soviet states have become a key market for Sri Lankan tea since the end in the early 1990s of a trade agreement under which the USSR had to source all its tea from India.
Traders send demand would continue over next week but after that interest would probably begin to dry up ahead of the end- year holiday.
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