Coffee price stable

Press, 10 April 1978, Page 4

Coffee price stable

New Zealand coffee-drink-ers cannot expect any fall in coffee prices for some time: there has been little activity ion the world coffee market.

Coffee prices in New Zealand have not dropped since December, but the world market has also remained quiet with no fall in prices] since November.

The price situation is stabilised because the major coffee producers have iml posed an export quota to rei strict the quantity of coffee being exported and consequently stopped the price since November. This has helped the coffee producers control the quantity of coffee available for the world market and they have ensured that prices remain level by not putting any surplus quantities of coffee up for auction, said Mr Smith. However, restrictions on exporting coffee have affected some buyers. In February, there was no coffee for export from Kenya or South America, said Mr Smith.

Browne and Heaton buys most of its coffee from East Africa, mainly Tanzania and Kenya, and some from Colombia.

■i Mr Smith said there has ? even been a slight increase liin world prices during the 1 last few months, but not sj enough to have any effect ion retail prices.

“In March, we paid SUS 6 {a tonne more for coffee than we did in November, but {this did not reflect on retail {prices,” he said. There would probably be little chance of a fall in prices in the near future. The coffee producers were able to control the flow on to the world market during the height of the producing season, and so they would not encounter any problems in the off-season to make them alter prices dramatically. However, Mr Smith said that he was selling more coffee now than he was when it was $2 a kilogram cheaper.

“People have accepted the existing price for quality coffee and more ground coffee is being sold than previously,” he said.