From Africa Recovery, Vol.14#1 (April 2000), Briefs page

Africa's commodity prices remain low

In the last quarter of 1999, world commodity prices began to recover from the record lows of the last two years, rising by 3.4 per cent. However, overall prices of sub-Saharan Africa's non-energy commodities fell by 3 per cent, said the World Bank's January Global Commodity Markets report. Cotton and cocoa fell 11 and 9.8 per cent respectively in the last quarter of 1999. Although cotton prices were up in January and February 2000, the price of cocoa continued to fall. This year's average price for cocoa may be close to the 1999 average of about $1.12 per kilogramme.

The good news for some of Africa's producers was the increase in price for sugar (8.3 per cent), aluminum (4.0 per cent) and copper (3.5 per cent). But, after posting fourth-quarter gains, the price of robusta coffee fell to a six-year low in January. By the end of February, the price had dropped to 46.8 cents per pound from an average of 63.3 cents per pound in the fourth quarter of 1999, according to the International Monetary Fund. The Association of Coffee Producing Countries is reportedly considering a retention scheme to boost prices.

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