Kenya coffee prices ended mixed at this week's auction with high volumes weighing down the tail end of the beans on sale, traders said on Wednesday.
They added that prices were unpredictable at the weekly auction but that good quality beans could still be expected to reap a premium at subsequent sales.
"In general prices fell because of slightly lower quality, but that was not what it was several weeks ago and that is not to say it will be so in a few weeks' time," a leading exporter said.
"Prices for lesser quality have eased because people are not so desperate, there is a lot of these coffees around."
An official at the Nairobi Coffee Exchange said 29,574 60-kg bags of coffee were offered at the auction, which was held on Tuesday. An auction volume for next week's auction is not readily available.
Traders said the auction saw the highest price for an AB grade in recent times.
Grade AB changed hands between $217 and $78 per 50-kg bag compared to $211 and $70 at the previous auction.
The benchmark AA grade fell to $303-$117 from last week's $360-$121 per 50-kg bag.