Online tea auction starts in Chattogram

The Bangladesh Tea Board has started an experimental online tea auction in Chattogram. About 12,000 kg of tea was sold at auction.

A press release of Bangladesh Tea Board informed the media about the auction on Monday afternoon.

Following the experimental online auction on March 15, the experimental online tea auction activities will continue from the beginning of the 2021-22 tea auction year.

Based on the success of the experimental activities, the Tea Board expects to bring 100% of the auction activities online within the next year.

Bangladesh Tea Board member (Finance and Commerce) said. Nazneen Kauser Chowdhury inaugurated the experimental activities of online tea auction. At this time, Nazneen Kauser Chowdhury said, "Online tea auction will make the country's tea auction and tea marketing activities more dynamic. This will give a new impetus to tea marketing and business in the Covid situation."

"Bidders from any part of the country will be able to participate in tea marketing online from home. This will reduce consumer health risks, save time and money, as well as strengthen transparency and accountability in tea marketing. Also tea marketing will be normal in any unwanted adverse situation including covid" she hoped.

In 2016, TTAB started exploring the possibility of online tea auction. The Bangladesh Tea Board instructed the TTAB (Tea Traders Association of Bangladesh) to start online tea auction as soon as the tea auction activities were disrupted due to the Corona epidemic in 2020. Following this, the online tea auction started experimentally.

Mirzapur tea garden was first sold at the auction through a national broker. Ispahani T. Ltd. bought the first lot at Tk312 per kg. About 25 bidders participated in the online auction.

TTAB Chairman Shah Moinuddin Hasan, Tea Board Marketing Officer Ahsan Habib, broker representatives and tea traders, among others, were present at the auction.