THE RISE IN THE PRICE OF TEA.

Otago Witness, Issue 2762, 20 February 1907, Page 29

THE RISE IN THE PRICE OF TEA.

The press cable received from London on tbe 14th inst. advising that there is "a great rise in the price of tea owing to the Russian demand for Indian and Ceylon te»6 aad the weather affecting the crops " has not been confirmed by any cabled advices received by local merchants or tea Slenders, and it is thought in most quarters that the cabled information merely refers to the steady rise- in price of teafl which has been taking place for some months p*at, and" not to any sudden or extraordinary development in the tea trade. "Teas that were bringing 5d and s£d in Colombo nine or~ twelve months ago," said the manager of one large importing firm, " are now bringing 7d to 7£d. The advance in price has been a steadily-increasing one, and the market both in Colombo and Calcutta has been firm for several months past. The advance has been confined principally to the common or cheaper kinds, and the finer kinds are not much affected. 'Although, the- local market ia rather bare of early teas of the cheaper kinds, I do not anticipate that any advance beyond iwhat has already occurred will take place." The manager of the tea department of another large importing firm stated that 'during the past four or five months the price of low-grade teas has advanced l£d to 2d per lb in the local market, but Indian teas of the same grades had not advanced io the same extent. He expressed himself as also of opinion that there would be no further immediate rise, or if it did occur &t would be due to the bareness of the Jocal masket in supplies of the commoner grades and not because of any change in the Home or foreign tea markets. The tea manager of another large firm, iwhen seen by our commercial representative, took a similar view, and added that (the statement which had been made in regard to rubber-growing replacing teaCuitiTation in Ceylon was only partially fcorreet. " What is taking place," he said, "is reaJly this: In localities where the conditions and soil are suitable only for the growth of low-grade tea, rubber plants liave been placed between the rows, bat as it will take several years before the rubber comes to profit, the tea. cultivation is- still going on, and the crop has not been affected to any extent by this cause." Referring further to the causes assigned in the cable for a 3udden rise, this authority remarked that he had not observed any cabled information of particularly severe weather being experienced either in India or Ceylon that would be likely to interfere with the tea crop. In regard to the increased Russian demand for Indian and Ceylon teas, "he observed that this would not be a sudden conversion, but a gradual preference which might be one of the causes which had contributed to the rise in prices already recorded."

Another author ity. who imports largely <as agent for a well-known brand of teas, when 9Cen by us, took a somewhat different view of the situation from that referred to above. "Summinjr up the- position," he said, "it is this: There- has been a. silent, steady »dvanee in prices in the Colombo Sea trade for the last three or four months, 'At large sales in Columbo prices have not been merely firm; th^ have advanced bit by bit. Stock* in London, being reduced, bis no. doubt been a contributing cause to the. sharp rise which the cable records. Ceylon teas are not an increasing qu* l^*?: and as rubber-growing has been entered upon by .many of the planters, the indications are that tea cultivation there will greatly diminish. With * steady and increasing demand for and consumption of Ceylon teas it would therefore not surprise me if in the course' of a year or two these .teas do not double in price. With/ an increased consumption and a lessened production of Ceylon teas, the price Of Inman teas will almost' certainly be (affected, and - the price of these will also advance. Chines* teas, in addition to tailing into unpopularity, owing to the fctronjr competition of Indian and Ceylon products, ore discriminated' accainafc by our jtariff, aod" this will no doubt throw the Chinese teas out of competition in the beir conditions that are arising."-