Bujumbura, Aug 17 - Burundi tea prices rose slightly in July from the previous month, spurred by strong demand due to dwindling volumes in the region, a tea board official said on Monday.
The country's state-run tea board (OTB) said the average export price was $2.63 per kg against $2.42 in June.
"There is now a low quantity of tea in the market while demand from buyers continues to be high. This has of course had a positve impact on prices," said OTB's Remy Ndayininahaze.
The volume of tea from East Africa has fallen due to drought, especially in Kenya, the world's leading exporter of black tea, Ndayininahaze told Reuters.
"Kenya's production influences the market. When output is low, tea prices go up in most producing countries," he said.
The board said one PD grade, for instance, sold at $2.72 at last week's auction in Mombasa, Kenya, compared with the reserve price of $2.66 per kg.
In the same auction, buyers offered $1.82 for a DUST grade, higher than the value price of $1.47, OTB said in a report.
The tea board said earnings over Jan-July 2009 were $8.9 million from selling a total 3,934 tonnes. In the first seven months of 2008, the country received $8.7 million from selling 3,994 tonnes.
OTB expects 2009 overall earnings to reach $15 million, compared with $13.7 million in 2008. It forecasts 2009 output at 7,500 tonnes, up from 7,000 tonnes last year, partly due to good rains and increased use fertilizers on farms.
Burundi exports 80 percent of its tea through the Kenyan port city of Mombasa at a weekly auction.
Tea is the country's second hard currency earner after coffee and supports some 300,000 smallholder farmers in the small country of 8 million people.