Top price of benchmark Kenyan coffee slides at auction

NAIROBI (Reuters) - The top price of Kenya's benchmark coffee grade dropped to $300 per 50-kg bag at auction on Tuesday from $351 per bag at the sale last week, the Nairobi Coffee Exchange (NCE) said. Kenya's speciality coffee beans are sought by global roasters for blending with coffee of lesser quality. During the auction, grade AA fetched $300-245 per bag, compared with $351-$161 per bag at the last sale, while grade AB fetched $214-132 per bag compared with $250-140 per bag, NCE said. A total of 15,200 bags were offered, with only 4,305 bags sold, compared with 18,881 bags offered at last week's sale and 5,326 bags sold. The average price per bag at this week's sale was $164.96.