Kenya Coffee earnings up 10pc to reach Sh8.5b

NAIROBI: Earnings by coffee farmers for the first half of the 2014/15 crop year increased by 10.3 per cent to Sh8.5 billion compared to Sh7.7 billion registered the same period in 2013/14 year.

Data from the Nairobi Coffee Exchange (NCE) indicates that starting October 1, 2014 to the end of March this year, farmers sold 328,401 bags of clean coffee worth Sh8.5 billion ($93.2 million).

“The cumulative earnings farmers received in the last six months of the current coffee year increased by 10.3 per cent to reach Sh8.5 billion from the Sh7.7 billion earned in the 2013/14 production period after selling of 324,247 bags,” said NCE Chief Executive Daniel Mbithi.

“Total weight of coffee sold during the same period increased to 20.05 million kilos compared to the 19.7 million traded between October 2013 and March 2014.” Mbithi says the average price in the review period increased by 10.04 per cent to Sh21,380.80 ($232.40), compared to Sh19,429.48 ($ 211.19) per 60 kilogramme bag of coffee traded the same period in the 2013/14 coffee year.

“During the review period, the highest prices were realised in February. The top average price was recorded during Sale 16 held on February 17, 2015 which fetched Sh25,892.48 ($281.44) while the lowest average price realised Sh15, 497.40 ($168.45 during Sale 22 carried out on March 31, 2015),” added Mbithi.

Since the beginning of the crop year, prices have been declining locally, a situation Mbithi attributes to a decline in international prices. “Further, the decline in prices have also been affected by low quality coffee beans being traded in the last three months as compared to quality of offered at the beginning of the coffee year in October 2014,” he added.

The auction started on a high tone on October 7, last year, with an average price of Sh22,520.68 ($244.79)  per 60kg bag, compared to average price recorded Sh12,924.16 ($140.48) the same period in 2013/14 year.

AVERAGE PRICE

At the end of the first half of the current coffee year, prices have dropped to Sh15,497 ($168.45), while average prices as at end of March 2014 to the 2013/14 increased to Sh19, 429.48 ($211.19).

During the period under review, premium grades –AA, AB, C, E, and PB recorded over Sh18,400 ($200) of the 60kg bag. Grade AA achieved the highest average price achieved during the review period of Sh32,625.04 ($354.62) on sale 15 held on February 10, 2015 compared to Sh19,429.48 ($388.38) registered in 2013/14 period.

Mbithi observed that despite the price decline, local coffee is still among the highly sourced crop in the world market, owing to its sweet aroma.