Africa: Global Coffee Prices Hit 27-Year High, Boosting East Africa

Global coffee prices surged to their highest levels since 1997, with Arabica futures on the New York exchange climbing three this week.

In East Africa, Kenya recorded a 27 percent increase in average sales, reaching $4.2 million–the strongest performance since January–buoyed by a rally in international prices.

Tightening global supplies have increased demand for Eastern African coffee, particularly from Kenya, Uganda, and Ethiopia.

Analysts expect rising interest from international buyers to push prices and export earnings higher in the region.

Supply pressures from poor weather conditions in top-producing countries, such as Brazil and Vietnam, have disrupted harvests and driven up prices. Robusta beans, often used in instant coffee, recently reached a peak unseen since the 1970s.

Brazil, the world’s largest coffee producer, has faced persistently low rainfall since April, damaging flowering coffee trees and lowering the outlook for its 2025/26 Arabica harvest.

Last week, global coffee prices retreated slightly after the European Union extended its deforestation law and unlikely favourable rains in Brazil raised hopes of improved production.

Arabica futures fell from a 13-year high, while robusta prices eased after hitting a one-month peak earlier in the week.

Kenyan coffee prices have been on an upward trend since auctions resumed last month following a seasonal recess.

Ethiopia and Uganda, East Africa’s leading exporters, are also set to capitalise on the rally, continuing a pattern seen in 2021 when frost in Brazil curtailed output and fuelled global demand for African beans.

By Business Day Africa.