Arabica coffee prices have dropped from the highs recorded for the most part of this year, a mini-survey by our reporter shows.
Arabica coffee is trading at sh9,000 to sh9,500 a kilo at factories in Ibanda town on October 20, 2022. This is a drop from sh12,000 in the first quarter of this fiscal year.
Robusta coffee ranges from sh6,200 to 6,700 a kilogramme compared to the last season’s high of sh7,000.
Dealers attribute the decline in prices to low market sentiment, saying there were no buyers. Local coffee dealers sell the beans mainly to buyers from Kampala.
Deogratias Tihwayo, a dealer in Ibanda town, said the market was waiting for bulk buyers from Kampala for ‘direction’.
He also said the quality and outturn of the coffee beans coming onto market was still low because of the long dry spell experienced in the area. It is also weeks into the Arabica coffee harvest season, indicating that mainly inferior beans were coming to the market.
Tihwayo, who is also the chairperson of Nyakatookye Coffee Growers Cooperative, added that robusta was out of season, meaning there are few buyers for whatever is on the market and, hence hurting the prices.
Meanwhile, the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) quoted the farm-gate price range for robusta coffee at sh6,200-6,700 per kilo, and sh10,000 to 11,000 for ‘clean’ Arabica coffee in its daily market report for Thursday October 20. UCDA quoted parchment Arabica at sh11,000-sh12,000 a kilo.
