Sept. 8 (Bloomberg) -- The price of Kenya’s benchmark coffee gained at an auction today because of strong demand driven by shortages in the market, the Nairobi Coffee Exchange said.

The average price for the top AA grade rose to $213.17 for a 50-kilogram (110-pound) bag from $210.50 a week ago, the exchange said in an e-mailed report from the capital, Nairobi. Supplies of the grade rose by two bags to 599 bags, it said.

The average price for all the coffee sold was little changed to $177.42 a bag from $178.42 last week, while the quality of the beans was mixed, the exchange said.

“Demand was very strong as some buyers were still short of coffee,” Mansukh Shah, a dealer at the Nairobi-based Alanwood Ltd., said by phone. “We had both good- and poor-quality beans.”

Sales at the auction rose 88 percent to 9,402 bags worth $2.04 million because of strong demand, the agency said.

Supplies at the 39th auction of Kenya’s 2008-09 season, which began on Oct. 1 and ends on Sept. 30, rose 66 percent to 12,335 bags from 7,447 bags, the agency said.

Kenya harvests the bulk of its crop from October through December, while a secondary crop is reaped from April to June.

The following are details of today’s auction in U.S. dollars for a 50-kilogram bag.

Grade     Low  High      Average
AA        167  226       213.17
AB        144  211       199.81
C          93  191       171.19
E         191  191       191.00
HE        117  144       130.06
MH         89   95        91.99
ML         41   91        73.64
PB        178  206       199.79
SB         52   54        53.24
T          41  161       126.60
TT        149  185       167.93
UG        151  180       162.76
UG1        93  183       152.50
UG2        50  160       149.01

To contact the reporter on this story: Fred Ojambo in Kampala via the Johannesburg bureau at amonteiro4@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: September 8, 2009 10:20 EDT