Kenya's top grade coffee price slips at auction

30 Apr, 2014

NAIROBI: The maximum price of Kenya's benchmark coffee grade fell to $338 per bag at auction from $390 at last week's sale, the Nairobi Coffee Exchange said.

The east African nation is a fairly small producer but global roasters buy the crop to blend with coffee from other producers offering beans of a lower quality.

Prices tend to fall later in the selling season once the best quality beans have been sold.

Benchmark grade AA sold for $179-$338 per 50 kg bag compared to $232-$390 last week.

Grade AB coffee fetched $201-$276 per bag compared to $204-$316, the coffee exchange said.

Some 23,800 bags were offered for sale and 2,958 were bought, fetching a total of $691,384. The average price per bag was $192.71.

Kenya's main coffee harvest usually runs from November to December, with the best quality beans are sold first after they are dried and processed. Sales tend to peak around February and March.

Kenya's second, smaller crop tends to be harvested from May to June. Weather can change the timings for harvests and sales.

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