KARACHI, Aug 19: The tea price of a particular brand jumped by Rs37 per kg on Tuesday while other brand packers are likely to follow suit, market sources said.

Tapal Tea Private Limited (TTPL) has announced an increase in the rate of Tapal mixture (one kg pack) to Rs347 from Rs310. The 500 gram mixture, 200 gram and 100 gram packs will now cost Rs178, 75 and 39 as compared to Rs160, 68 and 35, respectively.

Similarly, the price of one kg pack of ‘danedar’ variety has surged to Rs380 from Rs345 followed by 400 grams to Rs155 from Rs144, 200 grams to Rs80 from Rs73 and 100 grams to Rs40 from Rs37, respectively.

Retailers said that the new prices will be effective from August 20. Unilever and other packers are expected to come out with new rates ahead of Ramazan starting early next month.

The TTPL and other companies had increased the rates ahead of 2008-09 budget by Rs30-40 per kg. They had also raised prices in February by Rs20-25 per kg owing to rising prices of tea in Kenya, low crop output and heavy buying by the European countries.

An official in TTPL attributed the price hike to the falling strength of the rupee against the dollar resulting in making imports costlier.

He said another reason was the rising Kenyan tea prices owing to 45 million kg shortfall in the production during January-July this year. The prices of other teas, which were mixed with the Kenyan tea, had also appreciated.

He said that the price of high quality Kenyan tea has increased to $3.50 per kg as compared to $2.8-3 per kg two months back. Besides, the rupee is available at Rs76 to a dollar now as compared to Rs64 few months back.

He added that importers were also facing problems due to congestion at the ports in Kenya resulting delay in deliveries.