Nairobi: This week's coffee earnings from the Nairobi Coffee Exchange (NCE) auction rose to Sh 648 million, marking a significant increase compared to the Sh554 million netted last week.
According to Kenya News Agency, a total of 10,347 bags of coffee presented by nine brokerage companies were confirmed and sold, with 584 bags being withdrawn from a total of 10,931 bags that were provisionally listed for sale. The withdrawal rate by the coffee brokers stood at 5 percent, with the highest withdrawals made by KCCEMA brokerage company, which pulled 23 percent of its consignment-79 out of 351 bags. This was followed by New KPCU at 10 percent with 349 out of 3,499 bags, and Minnesota Marketers at 9 percent with 60 out of 692 bags.
Alliance Berries Ltd had a modest withdrawal rate of 3 percent, removing 96 out of 2,839 bags. In contrast, CEBBA, Kinya Coffee, Kipkelion, Meru Union, and United Eastern recorded no withdrawals, offering their full provisional consignments for sale. During Sale 36 of the current coffee year, the overall average price across all grades was Sh. 47,817 per 50-kilo bag, with prices ranging from a minimum of Sh. 13,954 to a maximum of Sh. 56,073 per bag.
In the auction, two lots achieved the high price of Sh 55,814 per bag. One lot consisted of 21 bags of grade AA from Kiganjo Factory, part of the Thiririka Farmers' Cooperative Society (FCS) in Kiambu County. Another three bags of grade AA came from Kanyiriri Factory, part of Rugi FCS in Nyeri County. In the estates section, one lot from Ibonia Farm in Kiambu, with 11 bags of grade AA, fetched Sh. 55,556 per bag.
A total of 771 bags, equivalent to 7 percent of the volume traded, fetched over Sh. 51,680 per bag, indicating better returns for coffee farmers. The top five buyers by volume were Ibero Kenya Ltd, which bought 2,901 bags worth Sh. 169.7 million. C.Dormans SEZ Ltd purchased 2,412 bags worth Sh. 150.2 million, and Louis Dreyfus Company acquired 1,491 bags worth Sh. 85.2 million. Other buyers included Kenyacof Limited, which bought 1,452 bags worth Sh 87 million, and Taylor Winch (Coffee) Limited with 1,162 bags worth Sh 0 million. The volume purchased by these five companies collectively accounted for approximately 84 percent of the total volume traded.