More coffee sold at Moshi Exchange on price improvement

DAILY NEWS Reporter

THE last coffee auction held in mid December 2016 at Moshi Exchange saw a total of 13,887 bags sold compared to 8,848 bags in the previous session due to slight improvement of prices.

According to the auction results released by the Coffee Board of Tanzania (TCB), the overall average prices were down by 1.69 US dollars per 50 Kgs bag for Mild Arabica compared to a fall of 10.59 US dollars for the same volume. The next auction will be held on the 13th of this month.

The Bank of Tanzania (BoT) monthly economic review for November states that the continued fall of coffee prices in the world market is attributed to the expectations of high coffee yields from Brazil and Vietnam.

“The fall in the unit price of coffee in the world market was largely attributed to a rise in expectations that coffee production would increase in Brazil and Vietnam during 2016/17 crop season,” stated the report.

The amount of coffee supplied at the Moshi Exchange increased to amount offered 18,757 bags in the last auction compared to 11,174 bags offered in the previous session. Similarly, the average prices were above the terminal market by 4.55 US dollars per 50 Kgs and 15 US dollars per 50 Kgs for Mild Arabica and Robusta respectively.

Tanzania, Africa’s fourth largest coffee producer after Ethiopia, Uganda and Ivory Coast, produces mainly Arabica and some robusta coffee. Prices of its Arabica normally track the New York market while those of robusta take their cue from London.