Burundi coffee prices up in Oct on global rally

Burundi coffee prices rose in October from the previous month due to a firmer world market ahead of the winter season, the coffee board said on Tuesday.

The state-run coffee board (OCIBU) said the average price in October was $3.35 per kg, up from $3.19 in September and $3 in August.

“Because of the winter, which has already started in most Western countries, the demand is high and this has boosted world coffee prices,” said OCIBU in its monthly report.

Coffee is Burundi’s top hard currency earner and employs some 800,000 smallholder farmers in a nation of 8 million people.

The coffee board said prices would continue to improve in the coming months.

It said the central African nation sold 425 tonnes of beans in October, down from 480 tonnes in September and 612 tonnes in August.

OCIBU fears coffee output in the 2009/10 crop could fall by 55 percent to some 11,000 tonnes due to the cyclical nature of harvests.

Burundi collected $58.9 million in 2008/9 season from the sale of 24,015 tonnes. The country forecasts 2009/10 earnings at $21.8 million.

Reuters.