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Coffee auction resumes after suspension

coffee

A farmer picking ripe coffee berries. FILE PHOTO | NMG

The weekly coffee auction resumes today after trading was suspended last week on Tuesday on shortage of quality beans.

The Nairobi Coffee Exchange (NCE) chief executive Daniel Mbithi said traders had accumulated 10,000 bags — the minimum threshold for an auction. Last week, the auction could not raise the required minimum forcing the trading to be suspended for a week.

“We are resuming today because we have accumulated enough stocks for trading. There has been a shortage in the recent days,” said Mr Mbithi.

The new crop from eastern Kenya had helped to push up the price to Sh23,587 for a 50 kilo bag, which is the highest value the beverage has attained after resuming from break on July, before dipping again to 19,467 for the same quantity in last week’s sale.