Coffee prices drop in Ibanda on low volumes

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Coffee prices in Ibanda district have largely remained range-bound over the past week due to quality concerns and low volumes. However, traders and farmers expect prices for clean coffee to recover as volumes increase in the coming weeks.

Traders in Ibanda town quoted Arabica coffee at sh15,000 per kilogramme, down from sh16,000 at the beginning of the month. Prices were also sh15,000 in Kashangura and Nyamirima in Kagongo division, Ibanda Municipality, and ranged from sh14,000 to sh15,000 in Igorora town council in Ibanda South County.

Mable Ninsiima Nyamirima, a member of Nyamirima Mutegaya Cooperative Society at Kabagoma in Kagongo division, Ibanda municipality, said increased volumes expected next month could support prices. She noted that higher quantities attract more buyers, which in turn boosts demand and prices.

Robusta prices have also edged lower, ranging from sh11,500 to sh12,500 per kilogramme, down from sh13,000 at the beginning of February, according to Godwin Musinguzi, a coffee trader in Igorora town. However, he said prices are expected to rise as the crop’s harvest season reaches its peak next month.

The Robusta harvest season is already underway and is expected to peak next month before ending in April. Meanwhile, the Arabica harvest season is just beginning.

Indicative prices

According to the agriculture ministry’s daily coffee market report for Thursday (February 26), fair average quality coffee was quoted at sh12,000 to sh12,500, Kiboko at sh5,500 to sh6,000, Arabica parchment ranged from sh15,000 to sh16,000, and Drugar coffee clean at sh14,000 to sh15,000.

Global arena

Coffee prices have also come under pressure due to signs of a bumper Brazilian coffee crop, which has improved the global supply outlook, according to Barchart, a global provider of real-time stock and commodities data.

Brazil’s 2026 total coffee production is projected to rise by 17.2 percent year on year to a record 66.2 million bags, it added.