Kenya Coffee Slumps 26% as Quality of Beans Decline, Nairobi Exchange Says
Kenya’s average coffee price fell 26 percent at auction today as the quality of the beans declined, the Nairobi Coffee Exchange said.
The average price for all the coffee sold dropped to $244.40 for a 50-kilogram (110-pound) bag, from $331.10 a fortnight ago, the exchange said in an e-mailed statement. It didn’t hold a sale last week because of low supplies.
“The quality of the beans continues to deteriorate as we come to the end of the season,” said Kizito Keya, a coffee trader at Mumba Coffee Ltd., by phone from Nairobi. “We have a lot of miscellaneous beans now because there are only two auctions left.”
Kenya is trying to help small-scale farmers revive production, which dropped from more than 100,000 metric tons in 1988-89 because of a slump in global prices and farm mismanagement. The East African nation may produce about 40,000 tons this season, James Wahome, quality manager at the Coffee Board of Kenya, said on Jan. 17.
The benchmark arabica AA declined 3.6 percent to an average of $397.06 at today’s sale, as supplies of the grade fell 54 percent to 1,744 bags, the exchange said. Total sales fell 12 percent to 9,245 bags worth $2.76 million, from 10,462 bags valued at $4.23 million, while supplies dropped 9.5 percent to 15,847 bags, the exchange said.
The following are details of today’s auction in U.S. dollars for a 50-kilogram bag:
Grade Low High Average AA 300 434 397.06 AB 295 415 388.83 C 127 361 319.58 HE 245 299 289.62 MH 129 239 187.88 ML 55 166 98.27 PB 305 423 375.01 SB 52 78 63.61 T 68 310 243.70 TT 153 373 303.49 UG 92 344 244.38 UG1 281 324 304.14 UG2 97 296 261.48
To contact the reporter on this story: Fred Ojambo in Kampala at fojambo@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Antony Sguazzin in Johannesburg at asguazzin@bloomberg.net
Rate this Page