Tanzanian coffee prices eased at last week's auction, tracking markets in London and New York weighed down by the global financial crisis, traders said on Thursday. "The commodity markets have followed the downturn of all other markets, so the world price of coffee has dropped, so the prices at the auction were correspondingly lower," a trader at a leading export firm said.
He said many farmers worried prices could fall further: "So despite the prices being lower, they accepted the prices." The auction was held on October 9, but the state-run Tanzania Coffee Board (TCB) only released official results on Thursday. It said 39,933 60-kg bags had been offered for sale, with 34,406 bags finding buyers.
There was no auction on October 2 due to a Muslim holiday. At the previous sale in the northern town of Moshi, held on September 25, there were 44,150 60-kg bags on offer and 44,984 sold. Benchmark grade AA sold at $135.40-$110.00 per 50-kg bag, compared with $175.00-$129.40 per bag at the September 25 auction.
Grade A was fetched $129.00-$109.00 per 50-kg bag, compared with $170.00-$133.00 per bag during the last sale. Tanzania mostly grows arabica coffee, but also has robusta, thriving mostly in the northern, southern and western parts of the country in areas around Mount Kilimanjaro and Lake Victoria. Its auction tracks arabica prices in New York, while its robusta prices tend to follow those in London. Both markets took a hit last week due to spillover from the world markets turmoil.
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