Coffee market experiences low volume as season ends

Coffee auction fetched Sh521,545,821 after the sale of 10,190 bags of coffee.

The auction registered a decrease compared to last week’s sale of Sh684 million following the sale of 14,486 bags.

The factories that achieved the highest prices for grade AA are Nyeri based Kamoni factory 61,113, Ichamara Sh60,594, Kiambara Sh59,297 marketed by the KCCE and Alliance Berries Limited.

The reports from Nairobi Coffee Exchange (NCE) indicate volumes at the auction have reduced as only 2,573 bags of quality coffee have been delivered compared to 3,078 bags of quality grades last week.

In the previous week, the coffee brokers had delivered 5,597 bags.

NCE CEO Lisper Ndung’u said that as the main season comes to an end, the volumes at the market have reduced, as new areas of Meru and Machakos open next month.

“To sustain the coffee market, there is a need for growers to increase production, focusing on the quality,” said Ms Ndung’u.

The report further detailed that the average bag of coffee in the sale fetched Sh41,391.

Alliance Berries Limited bought into the auction 3,894 bags that fetched  Sh178,745,531, KCCE 2,004 bags, earned Sh126,736,945.33, Kirinyaga Slopes 803 bags for Sh36,035,956.

Others were New KPCU which sold 1,706 bags for Sh93,083,485, CEBBA sold 188 bags for Sh10,771,016.

 In the dealers category, 18 local and international buyers participated in the market, where Ibero Kenya bought 4,620 bags, Louis Dreyfus 1,770 bags, Kenyacof 1,144 bags, C.Dorman 1,010 bags, among others.

Today, Cooperative Cabinet Secretary Wycliffe Oparenya is expected to address coffee farmers at General Ihura stadium with special focus on increasing coffee production.

 At the same time, the farmers will expect to hear the government proposal that the growers will pay them directly from the Direct Settlement System (DSS), after the coffee auction.

In the Mt Kenya development tour by President William Ruto, revealed that from June, the growers will receive their payment five days after the auction, a move that sparked a debate.