NAIROBI, April 22 (Reuters) - The maximum price of Kenya's benchmark coffee grade was unchanged at $390 per bag at this week's sale, the Nairobi Coffee Exchange said.

The east African nation is a fairly small producer of the beans but global roasters usually buy the crop, to blend with coffee from other producers, which offer beans with a lower quality.

Grade AA COF-AA-KE sold for $232-$390 per 50 kg bag while a bag of grade AB coffee COF-AB-KE fetched $204-$316 per bag, the coffee exchange said.

Some 22,644 bags were offered for sale, fetching a total of $3.5 million. The average price per bag was $243.75.

(Reporting by Drazen Jorgic; Editing by James Macharia)

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Keywords: KENYA COFFEE