Coffee price continues slide at Nairobi auction

The price of Kenya’s coffee continues to decline at the auction as the market grapples with lower quality supplies.

A transaction list from the Nairobi Coffee Exchange (NCE) indicates that a 50-kilo bag was sold at Sh24,732 this week down from Sh25,000 in the previous sale.

Lower quality beans have been streaming into the auction even as the quantities supplied remain low.

“The prices have gone down because of declining quality which is not out of the ordinary at this time of the year,” said a NCE official.

The auction resumed from recess almost two months ago after closing for a month when the main crop season from central Kenya came to an end.

At the moment the auction is getting crop from parts of eastern and western Kenya with the main crop season from central expected to hit the market starting December.

Coffee earnings dropped by Sh2.4 billion in the eight months to August compared with the same time last year as the sector reeled from the effects of Covid-19.

Market report indicates that the crop earned Kenya Sh9 billion as at the end of last month, down from Sh11.4 billion that was realised in the corresponding period last year.