Nairobi – The price of coffee declined by 16 per cent at the Nairobi Exchange last week as low quality beans take a toll on the value.

According to a market report from Nairobi Coffee Exchange (NCE) indicates a 50-kilogramme bag was sold at Sh18,156 (about Rwf145,000) this week compared with Sh21,624 (Rwf172,900) in the previous sale. Lately, the country’s coffee has been registering lower prices attributed to poor quality of beans delivered by farmers as the main crop season ends.

NCE chief executive Daniel Mbithi said the low-grade coffee is expected to persist until the auction breaks for recess.

The NCE is likely to go on recess in June, to usher in the new crop in July when it resumes. "It is expected that much lower average prices will be realised in the coming sales due to lower quality of the beans streaming into the market,” said Mbithi.

The auction has been enjoying high volumes of good quality beans from central Kenya in the last three months.

"The marketers will determine next month when the auction will go on recess, this will depend on the availability of coffee to trade,” he said. Coffee earnings had improved by 63 per cent in February compared with a similar period in 2016 on the back of higher international prices and an increase in volumes at the Nairobi auction.

Agencies