By David Musyoka NAIROBI (Xinhua) -- Kenya’s coffee auction prices have started declining following a similar trend at the international market.

Nairobi Coffee Exchange (NCE) said in a statement released Thursday that the price decline is further due to low quality of coffee beans being offered for sale.

NCE chief executive officer Daniel Mbithi said Thursday’s coffee auction recorded a 48.3-percent drop compared to last week auction.

Mbithi confirmed volume offered for sale at the caution dropped to 712.018 tonnes compared to 1,056 tonnes sold last week.

Coffee beans he said being offered for sale at the moment are returns of early crop from the Eastern region, mainly Meru and Machakos regions.

“Drying of the coffee beans is taking long due to the cold being experienced across the country. The dry spell has equally affected the maturity of the beans thus leading to low quality of crop being offered for sale,” Mbithi told Xinhua.

Prices during Thursday’s coffee auction dipped 0.76 percent to 208.88 U.S. dollars from 210.48 dollars recorded during last week’s coffee auction.

Mbithi said the decline in volume is likely to continue to be witnessed until around November when the market start receiving main crop harvest.

Coffee volumes offered for sale at the Nairobi coffee auction declined to 29,309 tonnes at end of July,down from 31,370 tonnes the same period in 2016.