Nairobi: The Nairobi Coffee Exchange (NCE) weekly auction conducted on Tuesday witnessed a decline of coffee volume that fetched Sh684 million. In the sale 26 of the coffee year conducted at Wakulima House, Nairobi, a total of 14,489 bags of coffee weighing 892,863 kilos were traded, representing a 31.1 per cent decrease compared to last week's auction, where 21,305 bags were sold.
According to Kenya News Agency, the auction featured three main grade categories: Main coffee grade, accounting for 51.09 per cent of total value; Miscellaneous Coffee 10.34 per cent; and Unwashed Coffee 38.57 percent. Grade AA commanded the highest average price at Sh48,496 per bag, followed by grade AB at Sh46,968, while grade T had the lowest minimum price at Sh19,774. The number of bags of premium-grade AA and AB presented in the auction has decreased drastically, with lower grades controlling the market.
In the auction, coffee brokers delivered 3,078 bags of quality grades AA and AB, compared to 5,597 bags that were traded in last week's sale. The highest maximum price recorded was Sh54,699.6 per bag of grade AA coffee from the Riakiberu factory of Mathioya in Murang'a County.
According to the NCE record, Ibero Kenya Ltd emerged as the dominant buyer, purchasing 4,170 bags equivalent to 257,386 kilos valued at Sh189.5 million, representing nearly 28 per cent of the total value. Louis Dreyfus Company ranked second with 2,511 bags equivalent to 153,906 kilos worth Sh94.8 million, followed by C. Dorman Ltd with 1,289 bags worth Sh69.5 million.
The unwashed coffee grade MH (Mbuni Heavy) registered the highest volume with 5,147 bags, equivalent to 312,443 kilos and accounted for 30.68 per cent of the total sales value. According to the brokers' performance report, Kirinyaga Slopes Coffee Brokerage Company Ltd traded the largest volume of 5,027 bags, followed by New Kenya Planters Co-operative Union PLC (NKPCU) with 3,224 bags, Alliance Berries Limited with 2,126 bags, and CEBBA with 323 bags, among others.
KCCE Marketing Agency Limited achieved the highest average price across their offerings at Sh41,326 per bag of 50 kilos, with some of their AA-grade coffee fetching up to Sh52,901 per bag. NCE CEO Lisper Ndung'u said the weekly coffee auction is experiencing low volume following the end of coffee harvesting in the main crop, expected to end next month.
She observed that in the period between October and February, the coffee fetched the best price at the auction. 'As the volumes decrease at the weekly sales, it indicates the end of the main crop and from next month, more coffee is expected at the market,' she noted. Ms Ndung'u encouraged farmers to continue in the production of the quality coffee that attracts the international buyers.
A Murang'a veteran coffee farmer who spoke to KNA, Peter Gikonyo, observed that coffee from Meru and the entire Eastern region was expected to flood the market from the month of May. 'The main season in Murang'a, Kiambu, Embu, Nyeri and Nyeri is coming to an end; thus, low volumes are presented for auction,' said Gikonyo, a farmer at Gaturi society.