Coffee earnings fall in 7 months
Nairobi. Kenya’s coffee earnings dropped by Ksh1.4 billion in the seven months to April compared with the same period last year because of low prices for Arabica in the international market.
Market data from Nairobi Coffee Exchange (NCE) indicate the value of coffee dropped from Ksh13.1 billion in the months ahead of April last year to Ksh11.7 billion in the period under review, representing a 10 per cent decline.
Monday, coffee plantation Eaagads issued a profit warning as a consequence of the falling prices. “This scenario can be explained by the fact that the world market prices at ICE in New York, which is our benchmark for Arabica coffees, have been experiencing a three-year low for almost the whole season,” says NCE chief executive officer Daniel Mbithi.
He said that had affected the average price at the auction with a 50 kilo bag dropping from previous Ksh24,300 to Ksh23,000 in April.
The volumes offered for sale declined from 26.9 million kilos in the same period last year to 25.3 million in the review period, with the drop attributed to wet weather at the beginning of the season.
Coffee had been performing well since the beginning of the year with prices on upward trajectory since the first auction of 2017 up to March.
