The commodity markets registered a mixed fortune in the latest auction with coffee prices rising for a second time in a row while tea fell marginally.
According to the Nairobi Coffee Exchange the price of the beverage increased to $267 (Sh31,506) per 50-kilogramme bag from $265 (Sh31,270) in the previous sale. This is the second time that coffee prices have rallied since the auction resumed last week after a one-month recess.
The coffee prices at the auction have been helped by high demand from roasters who are now restocking with the reopening of the auction after the May closure. The auction is now receiving a short-season crop after the main one came to an end shortly before the auction took a break in May.
At the Mombasa auction, the price of tea per kilo fell marginally from $2.25 (Sh266) to $2.24 (Sh264) in the latest sale held last week on low demand for the beverage at the auction.
The prices at the auction dipped despite a huge drop in the volume of tea that was offered for sale during the auction.
Data from the East Africa Tea Trade Association (Eatta) shows the quantity of tea during the sale was lower by more than 800,000kg when compared with the previous trading.
The volume of tea withdrawn from the auction rose significantly with four million kilogrammes of the commodity struck off the trading floor. This represented 32 percent of the total tea offered for sale in the review period, up from 23 percent previously.
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Farmers allied to the Kenya Tea Development Agency Holdings saw their earnings rise 42.4 percent to Sh62.8 billion in the year ended June when the price of the commodity rose by double digits.
The company had paid the farmers Sh44.15 billion a year earlier. The latest payout is the highest the growers have received in the last five years.
The 26.6 percent price jump was helped by the government’s introduction of a minimum tea price per kilogramme of $2.43 for KTDA tea starting July last year.
Sources: Business Daily
