The Mountain Journal
The smallholders in the coffee and tea industries pocketed Sh 1,645,620,385.01 after the auction of their produce in the auction markets in the week.
At the Mombasa tea auction, the smallholder factories under the KTDA management sold 2,596,542 that netted Sh 914,424,196.14.
According to the EATTA, Factories that achieved the best price were Mununga Sh 456.66($3.54)per kg, Imenti Sh 447.63($3.47) per kg, Rukuriri Sh 434.73 ($3.37) per kg, and Gathuthi Sh 432.15($3.35) per kg.
KTDA Holding National Chairman Enos Njeru said that, with the arrival of fertiliser, farmers are encouraged to apply, focusing on the increased harvest in the coming year.
“ With the reduced tea at the auction, the price of the commodity has been impressive as our 800,000 farmers are educated on the plucking of the quality green leaf,” said Mr Njeru.
According to the EATTA, Managing Director George Omuga in week 5,922,496 kgs of made tea were traded, where Rwanda achieved the best price of Sh 417.96 ($324) per kg, as Kenya followed at $2.33 per kg.
“ Kenya sold 4,792,228kgs, sourced from KTDA factories and the independent producers, Uganda 838,446kgs, Rwanda 277,000kgs and Burundi 14,732kgs,” he said.
In the coffee sector, cooperative societies and estates netted Sh731,196,188.87 after the closure of the weekly auction in Nairobi, where 14,193 bags of coffee across the grades were traded.
In the market, the Nairobi Coffee Exchange (NCE) reported that at the auction, the coffee brokers marketed 1,676 bags of grade AA, 5,813 bags of grade AB and 3,460 bags of grade C.
“ In the auction, New KPCU marketed 4,783 bags, Alliance Berries 1,419 bags, and Kipkelion 1,523 bags of coffee among other brokers,” said the NCE CEO, Ms Lisper Ndung’u.
Ms Ndung’u added that the average price per bag was Sh 41,679.98
In the buyers category, the NCE report listed Ibero Kenya 3,427 bags, Dormans 2,688 bags, Global Mark 2,186 bags, and Kenyacof 1,322 bags as the dealers who bought the highest volumes.