By Henry Kinyua
Welcome to this weeks’ edition of The HK Coffee Market Summary: Sale number 15
The coffee season 2023/2024 Sale 15 took place on Tuesday 6th February 2024 at the usual place 2nd floor Wakulima House along Haile Selassie Avenue where Nairobi Coffee Exchange is located and on online platforms.
A total of 16,468 bags (50kgs) of coffee were traded, signifying a notable decrease from the 20,821 traded in Sale Number 14 last week. The average price also saw a significant rise, reaching 252 from the previous $212 per 50kg bag in Sale Number 14. This average price is equivalent to Kshs 124 per kilo of cherry.
The highest price achieved was $474 per 50kg bag from Karimikui Kaingoi wet mill (Factory) which is part of Rung’eto Farmers’ Cooperative Society in Kirinyaga County.
It is interesting to note that even last week coffee that fetched highest price was also from Rung’eto Farmers’ Cooperative Society from Kiangoi Factory. So, congratulations to Rung’eto FCS for keeping it high. This high price is equivalent to Ksh 233 per Kilogram of cherry at factory gate.
A total of 603 bags or 4% of coffee traded fetched more than $400 per bag. The coffee was largely from Kirimui, Kiangoi, Ndimi, Kerugoya, Kii, Kimandi from Kirinyaga County, Gathaithi and Kangocho in Nyeri County then Kevote and Murue from Embu County
The total earnings from Sale Number 15 amounted to $5,124,957 or approximately Kshs 819Million.
Notably, 11,592 bags, constituting 70% of the volumes traded, were grades AA and AB. Kindly note that increase in percentage of high grades leads to increase in average price and total earnings from the market.
Kirinyaga County, represented by the Kirinyaga Slopes Coffee Brokerage Company Ltd, continued to assert its presence in the market. In Sale Number 15, they traded the second highest volume at the auction at 6036 bags of which 4704 bags or 78% of their coffee was grades AA and AB. This explains how they ended up with the highest average price of $298 per bag.
Kipkelion Broker Company Ltd from Kericho county was also active in the markets and traded 2,039 bags of coffee at an average price of $197 per bag.
Murang’a County Coffee Dealers made their first appearance in the market trading 266 bags and an average price of 189.
I would like to state as always that a report on a single sale doesn’t reflect the total sales and returns from any factory cooperative or county. Coffee is processed and traded at different times, and factories present coffee to the market in multiple sales before determining the final price paid for all their traded coffee. Therefore, one sale or even a couple of sales only serve as directional indicators of market performance. To estimate the price per kg of cherry from market reports, take the highest price paid per bag (e.g., $474) and multiply it by the dollar rate (e.g., 160). Then, divide by 50 (50kg per bag) and further divide by 6.5 to get the kilos of cherry. Using this formula: (474 * 160) / 50 / 6.5 = 233, the result is $474 per bag, equivalent to Kshs 233 per kg of cherry
Brokers
Seven brokers/agents participated by presenting their clients’/farmers’ coffee for trading at the auction. New KPCU was conspicuously absent from the market. Kirinyaga Slopes coffee Brokerage Company presented the highest volume followed by Alliance Berries, Kipkelion Broker Company coming third, and Murang’a County Coffee Dealers Co. Ltd made their first appearance in the market
Coffee Buyers:
A total of 17 buyers participated in the auction. The top four buyers, led by Ibero Kenya, Kenyacof, C. Dormans and Sasini purchased 85% of the coffee traded. Global Mark Foods procured the least volume at 13 bags from the auction
