 |
| Coffee pictured above |
Coffee drawn from various estates and cooperative societies have earned Ksh 718 million during this week’s auction at the Nairobi Coffee Exchange (NCE).
In the auction, 19, 478 bags were traded, where a bag weighing 50 kilos was bought at an average of Ksh 31, 070.
The highest price paid for coffee in the auction, which happened after a three-week recess was Ksh 50, 764 per bag of grade AA.
Grade AA coffee sourced from Kimathi, Kiairia, Mihuti, and Gatomboya factories marketed by Alliance Berries Limited, earned the best prices during the sale.
Kimathi factory achieved the highest price of Ksh 50, 764 for each of its 33 bags of grade AA followed by produce from Kiairia that fetched Ksh 50, 634, Mihuti Ksh 50,375 and Gatomboya Ksh 48, 044.
At the same time, Kathinthiuku factory produce marketed by the New KPCU achieved Ksh 49, 857 for each of its 109 bags of AA grade.
NCE Chief Executive Officer Lisper Ndung’u confirmed that by closure of the auction, each 1, 203 bags earned above Ksh 39, 000.
During the sale, grade AA coffee traded accounted for 28.9pc after the coffee agents brought 4,710 bags and 7,487 bags of grade AB, translating into 39.15pc of the volume traded during the auction.
“High quality coffee attracts more buyers and usually fetches better prices. It’s the humble appeal of the NCE to farmers to produce quality and quantity coffee that will attract many international buyers for competitive prices,” said Ndung’u.
Ndung’u further revealed that eight coffee agents and 20 local and international buyers participated in the auction.
In the category of agents, New KPCU and Alliance Berries Limited, presented 7, 053 bags and 6,486 bags of the coffee respectively.
The NCE report indicated that in the dealer’s category, Ibero Kenya led the pack after it bought 6,391 bags of coffee at Ksh 216 million, while C-Dorman bought 2,861 bags for Ksh 123.6 million.
Among other top buyers included Sasini 2,552 bags for Ksh 11.3 million and Taylor Winch, 1,738 bags for Ksh 65.6 million.
By KNA