The weekly coffee prices declined marginally at the Nairobi Coffee Exchange (NCE) with a 50-kilogramme bag dropping to $226 (Sh26,080) down from $228 (Sh26,311) in the previous sale.
The price of the commodity has been on a constant decline since February as the high-quality beans from the main crop dwindles, cutting down on demand.
“The quality has gone down now as we come to the end of the season that is why the prices shave been declining,” said Daniel Mbithi, chief executive officer of NCE.
The auction is set to go on recess in May as the main crop season comes to an end with only one trading remaining in the current season.
The coffee season started in November last year with the crop sustaining the market up to this month when the ratio of high-quality beans started dwindling.
The auction will now be banking on the short-season crop from eastern and parts of western Kenya when it resumes in June, which will sustain the auction up to November when the main crop coffee is expected to hit the market again.
This comes just after coffee farmers benefitted from the government-subsidized fertilizer at almost half price.
Through the program, which is being overseen by the new Kenya Planters Co-operative Union(KPCU), the farmers received the fertilizer at a cost of Sh3,024 as opposed to the selling price at the local agro vets which stands at Sh 6,000.
