Coonoor auctions to witness record tea volumes

Coonoor: A volume of 12.62 lakh kg has been catalogued for Sale No: 27 of the Coonoor Tea Trade Association (CTTA) to be held here on July 5, and July 6. This is the highest volume so far offered in 2007. It is 20,000 kg more than the offer of last week. The volume is some 1.2 lakh kg more than the offer this time last year. Also, with sellers increasingly retaining their teas for auction at CTTA in the context of the VAT having being decreased to one per cent from the earlier four per cent level, more volumes are on catalogue. Of the 12.62 lakh kg on offer now, as much as 8.69 lakh kg belong to the leaf grades and only 3.93 lakh kg are dust grades.