Murang’a,
Wednesday, May 8, 2024
KNA by Bernard Munyao
Returns for coffee drawn from various cooperative societies and estates have dropped by 29 percent during this week’s auction at the Nairobi Coffee Exchange (NCE).
During Tuesday’s auction, 23, 930 bags of coffee netted Sh783.3 million as compared to Sh1.015 billion farmers earned last week.
Bags of coffee presented for auction this week also dropped from 25, 180 bags that were auctioned last week.
In the auction that attracted 16 local and international buyers, a total of 4, 582 bags of grade AA were sold at Sh176.09 million.
This was a drop compared to last week’s 6,742 bags of grade AA that were sold at Sh308.47 million.
Farmers also netted Sh349.38 million from 10, 197 bags of grade AB which were sold in the auction.
Gakuyuini coffee factory got the best price after selling a bag of grade AA at Sh47,614. The factory sold a total of 186 bags of grade AA through Alliance Berries limited.
Among the nine brokers which participated in the auction, Alliance Berries ltd sold the highest number of bags fetching Sh217.9 million for 6, 176 bags.
Kenya Slopes limited traded 6, 163 bags at Sh190.14 million while New Kenya Planters Cooperative Union (NKPCU) sold 4, 857 bags of coffee at Sh165.3 million.
In the category of dealers, Ibero Kenya ltd bought 5,658 bags at Sh178.048 million followed by Taylor Winch (Coffee) ltd which spent Sh156.38 million for 4, 712 bags and Kenyacof limited bought 4,121 bags at Sh136.25 million.
Other dealers including C.Dorman ltd bought 3,266 bags at Sh115.99 million while Louis Dreyfus company spent Sh94.23 million on 3, 008 bags of coffee.
NCE Chief Executive Officer Ms Lisper Ndung’u noted that despite the drop in returns during this week’s auction, Kenyan coffee has been netting impressive prices in the NCE in the recent past.
Auctions done over the past two weeks, she said has been earning farmers more than Sh1 billion and she encouraged farmers to focus on producing high quality coffee which attracts more local and international buyers.
Courtesy; KNA
