Cameroon Port's Coffee Price Rises Amid Slow Supply -- Exporters

YAOUNDE, Cameroon--Robusta coffee sold slightly higher at Cameroon's chief port of Douala, owing to tiny crop entry at the port, several exporters and traders told Dow Jones Newswires on Sunday.

A kilogram of the beans ready for export sold for 1,023 Central African francs ($1.86), up 2.6% from XAF997/kg the crop sold last week, according go figures released by the West African nation's cocoa and coffee board.

The scarcity of robusta coffee faced by the Douala port has been triggered by days of transportation of goods to and from the port, after a road linking it to most coffee producing localities collapsed last weekend.

Movement of vehicles along the Yaounde-Douala highway was banned by the county's public works minister Emmanuel Nganou Djoumessi shortly after the incident.

The Yaounde-Douala road is an important connection to the Douala port that is a gateway for at least 95% of goods entering and leaving Cameroon and the neighboring Central African Republic, Chad and Congo-Brazzaville.

"It's still hard to get coffee from the production areas to the port right now," said Joseph Achindu, a middleman trader supplying coffee to the port.

Write to Emmanuel Tumanjong at barcelonaeditors@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 24, 2017 10:10 ET (14:10 GMT)