Coffee in Saudi Arabia Selling Below Cost Price

The price of coffee in Saudi Arabia decreased significantly, sometimes reaching levels lower than the price in the country of origin. For example, in week 31 the minimum price of Ethiopian grade 5 coffee in the origin country was USD 4,050/MT, while it was trading at USD 3,900/MT in Saudi Arabia. This was due to major importers shipping large volumes of coffee before the month of Ramadan, which is the most important season for them in the year. Importers were expecting large sales during Ramadan, but this was not achieved due to the high prices of coffee globally. So they had a large stock after the season, which made them reduce the prices of coffee to below cost price to finish the remaining stock. This negatively affected the price of newly imported coffee, but the old stock is expected to finish soon and prices in the market will return to stability.