Kenyan coffee prices were mixed at this week's auction, with firm demand for lower grade offerings and a dearth of buyers for the diminishing supply of top quality beans, traders said on Wednesday.
The cost of best quality coffee across almost all grades dropped, but lowest prices paid for many grades rose, according to preliminary results from the Nairobi Coffee Exchange (NCE).
"We are at the end of the crop and there is no plus (best) quality coffee on sale at all and only a few average quality offerings," a trader from a leading export firm said. "But interest is there for grinder coffee and unwashed coffee.
It is as we would expect for the end of June," he said. Regular coffee customers were looking to other global markets for their supplies now the Kenyan annual crop was all but finished, a second trader said.
"When we see the quality dipping it's easier for buyers to find better coffee elsewhere around the world, and when they are not buying in Kenya, the prices reflect that," Charles Cadres at coffee traders Ketch said.
"Kenya's main crop is the best in the world when it is available, but we're not seeing that, this is now the drips and drabs." Exchange officials said 12,757 of the 18,126 60-kg bags on offer were sold.
Top and bottom prices for the best quality AA beans ranged from $134 to $86 per 50-kg bag compared with $145 to $72 at the previous auction. AB grade beans sold for between $103 and $74, against $106 and $71 the week before.
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