Coffee sales earn Kenya 13 pc more than in the last year

Kenyan coffee fetched 13 per cent more revenue from exports in the first half of this year compared to the same period in 2013.

The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics says that the crop earned Sh9.6 billion between January and June 2014 compared to Sh8.5 billion last year.

“Prices have been better in this period and production has also improved,” Mr Daniel Mbithi, the chief executive officer of the Nairobi Coffee Exchange said Thursday.

The cash crop on average sold at Sh375 a kilogramme compared to Sh284.5 for the same quantity last year.

A total of 24,869 tonnes were sold through the exchange in the first six months of the year compared to 24,312 tonnes sold in a similar period in 2013.
The data represents only the coffee that is sold through the auction and not that which is disposed of independently.

SELL DIRECTLY

A number of dealers opt to sell directly to the international market to earn higher prices.

Kenyan coffee is of high quality and is mainly used by other major producers for blending.
Mr Mbithi said the crop is expected to continue fetching good prices in the future.

Coffee is one of Kenya’s key foreign exchange earners. Last year, the crop raked in Sh18 billion.

Tea, which is the country’s leading forex earner posted a decline in prices in the first half of 2014 to Sh195 per kilogramme from Sh244 for the same quantity last year.