Commodities

Coffee price slides 8pc at NCE auction

coffee

Coffee beans for auction at the Nairobi Coffee Exchange. FILE PHOTO | NMG

The price of Kenya coffee fell eight percent in the first sale of the year, mainly informed by a decline in premium grades.

Nairobi Coffee Exchange (NCE) said a 50-kilo bag on average fetched Sh19,493, down from Sh21,513 recorded in the last sale of 2019.

The main grades recorded a decline with the top-most grade selling for Sh29,391 down from Sh35,451. Grade AB fetched Sh18,786 down from Sh21,412.

The auction has been grappling with a shortage of coffee since December, forcing it to hold sales after every fortnight. Low volumes had helped to keep up the price.

“There has been increased demand at the auction against low supply and this has helped to push up the value of the commodity,” said NCE chief executive Daniel Mbithi.

He said the recovery at New York, which has so far rebounded from a low of US95 cents a pound to over 111, boosted the price. Kenya sells more than 95 percent of its coffee to the global market, which determines the value of the crop locally.