According to TCB, the price of a 50-kilo sack of arabica coffee dropped from $158 to $104 between August and December last year. Farmers also experienced a decrease of 30 per cent in robusta price from $93.6 in August to $65.46 a sack at the close of auction in December.
In Moshi, TCB auctioned 33.1million kilos of Tanzanian`s arabica and robusta coffee during 17 sessions between August 14, 2008 and December last year.
TCB figures show 700,000 bales of seed cotton were bought at between 400/- and 540/- per kilo, which was below the target by 100,000 kilos.
TCB Managing Director Adolph Kumburu told The Guardian on Sunday, that Tanzania harvested slightly over 50,000 tonnes of coffee in the 2008/2009.
Average production in the country has ranged between 45, 000 and 50,000 tonnes in the past 20 years.
``This is a record harvest but we predict a big decline in the next season as a result of the global financial turmoil,`` said Kumburu.
However, the DG said the board has outlined a five-year plan whose strategy has been completed to bring together stakeholders in coffee producing regions, starting this year.
The programme aims at producing at least 100,000 tonnes of coffee, including expansion in the southern and western regions.
The target is to increase the current output of 250-300 kilos to 500 kilos per hectare.
A total of 33,348,405 kilos of arabica and robusta coffee were sold during the period, with arabica type fetching $114.74 per sack and robusta selling at $77.2 per sack.
The International Coffee Organisation (ICO) website shows that exports of both types of coffee from Tanzania have fallen.
For example, between October 2007 and September 2008 exports fell to 749,896 bags (60 kilo) from 797,311 bags sold during similar period in 2006 and 2007.
The slump is due to a decleration of import demand, mainly in the United States, but also in Europe and Japan, according to the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
Data shows that Tanzania`s coffee production increased to about 917,000 bags during the season, a six-year highest record, compared to 810,000 bags recorded during the previous season.
Talking to this paper, an official of one of Tanzania Coffee Association (TCA) recently said, the fall in export is due to less demand for the commodity in importing countries, especially US and Japan.
Coffee exporters faced a double tragedy as they could not export in time due to congestion at the container terminal and drop in prices in the world market.
A coffee dealer who preferred anonymity told The Guardian on Sunday over the phone from Moshi this week that, congestion at the Tanzania International Container Terminal (TICTS) in Dar es Salaam is a big concern because exports are not meeting schedules.
He said they do not go for new contracts because of congestion of the product.
The TCB`s Desderi Mboya was quoted recently as saying that, a total of 33.1 million kilos of coffee comprising 16million kilos of arabica and 27 kilos of robusta were sold between August and December.
At the first auction on August 4, 2008, arabica’s average price was 158.4 US dollars per 50 kilo-bag, but then dropped to 106 US dollars on November 20, further going down to $104 in December.
As for robusta the drop was from 95 US dollars to 93 US dollars. Thereafter it went down to 63 dollars.
When reached for comment, TICTS Commercial Manager Jay New said the terminal`s capacity of 7,500 containers cannot cope with the present situation as there are usually about 9,300 containers.

SOURCE: Sunday Observer