Ethiopia Commodity Exchange ECX: physical commodity exchange in Addis Ababa
The Ethiopia Commodity Exchange in Addis Ababa organises trading in physical commodities, particularly coffee, sesame and selected pulses.
AGR-013 · Physical commodity exchange · Addis Ababa, Ethiopia · ETB
Structured trade in Ethiopian coffee, oilseeds and pulses
The Ethiopia Commodity Exchange in Addis Ababa organises trading in physical commodities, particularly coffee, sesame and selected pulses. Its value lies in connecting transactions with quality identification, storage and price information. This differs from the futures model used in Chicago: a business seeking Ethiopian produce needs to examine the particular grade, origin and warehouse. It should not assume that all Ethiopian coffee exports must use one marketing channel, since other forms of sale also exist.
Official tables use codes for the commodity and warehouse and report prices and volume. Units are especially important. Coffee prices may be expressed in birr per feresulla, equivalent to 17 kilograms, while other commodities often use a 100-kilogram quintal. The latest trading dates can also differ between products. Reading a price without its grade, unit and date can materially distort an import calculation. The spreadsheet therefore identifies the price source rather than presenting one apparently universal Ethiopian coffee price.
A buyer should first establish whether the requirement is an export lot, a particular coffee profile or material for domestic processing. It should then confirm the appropriate participant category and whether it can act through an exchange member or intermediary. A seller needs to understand intake, grading, documentation and payment procedures. For coffee, agreeing a sample and sensory assessment can be important. The price of an exchange grade need not match the price of a specialty microlot, even when both come from the same producing region. Product identification should therefore precede price negotiation.
The practical assessment includes service charges, storage duration, collection, transport to the export point and payment arrangements. Statistical dates also need attention: Ethiopian fiscal year 2018 corresponds here to 2025–2026 in the Gregorian calendar. The number of inspected samples is not the number of trades or tonnes sold. The ECX website may be intermittently unavailable; when access fails, confirm information with the operator and retain the date on which it was obtained. A decision should combine consistent grade, warehouse, price and collection information with an actual commercial offer. For an overseas transaction, record which party arranges export documentation and inland transport, because those obligations are not established merely by quoting an exchange price.
What is priced: Grains, oilseeds and pulses, Coffee, cocoa, tea, sugar, cotton, rubber and spices
Where to find the prices
Products and quotations
Washed coffee; Unwashed coffee; Humera Gondar sesame; Wollega sesame; Mung beans; Soybeans; White pea beans; Red kidney beans
Key figures
- Commodity trading value: 48,830,000,000 ETB (Ethiopian FY 2018 (2025–2026)). Ministry figures reported by ENA.
- Quality-certified samples: 14,327 samples (Ethiopian FY 2018 (2025–2026)). Inspection services, not number of trades.
Sources
- ENA — ministry results
- ECX — market data
- ECX — republication of daily data
All agricultural exchanges, markets and price sources
