The Price of Coffee has dropped by 12% at the weekly Nairobi exchange for the first time in five months. the drop has been.attributed to low quality coffee and the drop in prices at the New York Exchange.
The average price for coffee beans at the auction fell to $256 per 50-kg bag compared to $292 per bag last week.
“Currently we are getting slightly low quality coffee from the farmers as opposed to initial crop that was of high quality,” said Nairobi Coffee Exchange executive officer Daniel Mbithi.
Mr Mbithi said the current crop was almost coming to an end with low quality coffee coming to the auction. The trend is expected to continue until June when the mid year crop comes to the market.
The volumes supplied to the auction have also declined from 1,600 tonnes last week to 1,500 tonnes this week.
The price of grade AA coffee dropped from a high of $382 recorded during last week to trade at $340 while grade AB’s value declined from $294 to sell at $255. The grade refers to size and density, rather than bean quality.
However, grade E gained to sell at $356 from $311 sold in the previous auction. Mr Mbithi said the rise in price was because of the high demand for the 1.4 tonnes of beans that were on offer.
Kenya is a relatively small coffee grower but its speciality coffee is sought after by roasters for blending.
At the New York Exchange, coffee prices dropped from $206 to $191 currently despite the severe shortage expected following poor weather in Brazil that has ravaged two consecutive crops.
The lack of rainfall in Brazil in January and February has been combined with very high temperatures in many coffee growing areas, according to International Coffee Organisation.
businessdaily
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