Cherry Prices

The week has past in expectation for what will transpire next week when the Minimum Price regulations are set to come into practice. Exporters are non-the-wiser as to how the price will be set, there does not appear to be a mechanism in place just some assurance that the terminal market will be taken into consideration when setting the levels. Hopefully next week’s report will have a little more information on how this system works!

Meanwhile trading activity has been slow with NY closing lower everyday this week; Prices for red cherry in the South vary between 15 and 20 Birr per kg depending on the area; the crop is starting to come to an end, in Limu washing stations will close next week; in Sidamo, Yirgacheffe and Guji cherries still flow to washing stations but increasingly the focus is on processing Naturals since the flow is much smaller than in December. Volumes traded at ECX continue to trail those of this time last year, it is only a question of time before more volumes arrive to the market (particularly when more Naturals are in the hands of agrabes).

Weather is favourable to drying.

The forex rate is 31.9 to the USD just a whisker away from 32; as mentioned previously, this steady decline that started to accelerate in November is likely to continue until the official rate gets close to the unofficial rate of around 40.

by Charles Seara Cardoso