Coffee prices at the weekly Nairobi auction have dropped by 65 per cent since the first sale of the year, following a decline in the quality of beans on offer.
The price of a 50-kilogramme bag has dropped from a high of Sh38,784 in January to a low of 14,736 in the latest sale held Tuesday at the Nairobi Coffee Exchange (NCE).
The value of the Kenyan coffee has been taking a downward trend in the last two and a half months after registering impressive results from January to February on account of high quality coffee.
“The quality of coffee has started going down as the season comes to an end and this, coupled with international low prices has affected the values of the crop,” says NCE chief executive Daniel Mbithi.
The coffee that has been trading at the auction has been coming from the main crop season in central Kenya, which started last October.
Supplies had been projected to decline starting last month.
Last year the crop was hit by a drought that affected most parts of the country leading to postponement of auctions at some point, which affected the overall earnings in six months to March.
Kenya’s earnings from coffee dropped by Sh1.3 billion between October and March compared with the same period last year, on account of low international prices and reduced volumes at the auction.
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