Kenya's benchmark coffee dropped 5.4 percent at an auction yesterday after the quality of the beans declined and some buyers stayed away from the auction, the Nairobi Coffee Exchange said.
The top Arabica AA type sold for an average of $447.52 for a 50-kilogram (110-pound) bag, compared with $472.83 a week earlier, the agency said in an e-mailed statement from Nairobi, the capital. Supplies of the grade climbed 0.9 percent to 4,556 bags, it said.
The price for all coffee sold slipped 2.5 percent to $345.14 a bag from, as supplies fell 2 percent to 16,758 bags, the agency said. Total sales increased 15 percent to 10,110 bags worth $4.27 million as buyers replenished their stocks as the close of the auction season draws closer, the exchange said.
The country may close its seasonal auctions as early as April amid low stocks, Samuel Thuo, a program manager at the Nairobi-based Coffee Management Services, said on Feb. 15.
Kenya’s coffee production in the 12 months through September may drop 27 percent 40,000 metric tons from a previous forecast of 49,000 to 55,000 tons, James Wahome, the quality manager at the Coffee Board of Kenya said on Jan. 17. The country produced 45,000 tons last season.
Kenya harvests the bulk of its crop from October through December, while a secondary crop is reaped from April to June. The following are details of yesterday’s auction in U.S. dollars for a 50-kilogram bag:
Grade Low High Average AA 328 588 447.52 AB 168 521 413.74 C 141 409 351.24 E 327 360 351.86 MH 117 211 197.12 ML 67 179 122.90 PB 319 500 422.22 T 63 320 231.20 TT 182 409 349.92 UG 317 317 317.00 UG1 134 345 320.93 UG2 85 310 198.68
source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-09/kenya-s-benchmark-coffee-grade-drops-at-auction-as-bean-quality-declines.html
