ADDIS ABABA, Feb 17: Ethiopia's finest coffee from Yirgacheffe secured top prices ranging between $2 and $5 per pound on Saturday at an open outcry auction aimed at raising the profile of quality beans in East and Central Africa.

Bidders had tasted the coffee in the last few days at a conference for the East African Fine Coffees Association (EAFCA) in Addis Ababa.

Most of the organisation's 11 members produce high quality arabica type of coffee except Uganda.

Four countries took part in the auction. Zambian Grade triple "A" from Munall-Mubaya Farms Limited secured the lowest price of $1.75 per pound. Coffees from Kenya and Tanzania had no bidders.

"Prices offered by buyers were higher and were driven by the quality of a particular lot, cup testing, aroma and buyer interest," Chris von Zastrow, a regional coffee specialist who conducted the auction, told Reuters.

Ethiopia's S.A Bagersh Coffee Exporters secured the highest price of $5 per pound.

Also scoring high prices were Ethiopia's Moplaco Trading, which secured $4.50 per pound for Yirgacheffe Natural while S.A Bagersh got $2.60 for Yirgacheffe Special.

Organisers said the auction was the culmination of months of national coffee cupping competitions held in 2006/07 throughout eastern Africa and that bidders came from around the world, including from Japan, China and Germany.—Reuters