Coffee prices surge in Vietnam as harvest season starts at a slow pace

Kenneth Afor

Coffee prices in Vietnam, the world’s second-largest producer, continued to surge on Thursday mimicking London’s prices rebound as harvest started slowly.

In Vietnam’s Central Highlands, the country’s largest coffee-growing area, the commodity sold for $1.42 per kilogramme as against $1.40.

The slow start for harvest could lead to delayed exports of the commodity in Vietnam which could slightly affect global shipments, according to a trader who spoke to a news wire service. A Vietnamese coffee trader attributed the rise in prices in the country to the global increase in prices.“Domestic prices inched higher this week following the increase in global prices,” said the trader.

Coffee production this year in Vietnam didn’t produce the desired yield in terms of size the trader further said, adding that the crop’s beans turned out smaller than what was harvested in the previous season but this unexpected growth was based on the region where the beans were produced.

The low quality and quantity of the beans harvested might affect the country’s annual output of 1.6 million metric tonnes, the trader also explained.

As harvest period gathers momentum gradually, farmers have commenced picking of beans but in a trickle of numbers as they await the crop to get to its full maturity. Farmers have started to pick cherries but not on a large scale, since only about a quarter of the crop has fully ripened, another trader based in the region said.

However, coffee traders in Vietnam were offering 5 percent black and broken grade 2 premium coffee between the ranges of $110 – $120 per tonne in the January contract shipment on Thursday which was higher than the $80 – $100 price last week.

Elsewhere, in Indonesia, the fourth-largest producer of coffee with 660,000 metric tonnes per annum, offered a grade 4 defect 80 robusta coffee beans for $240 per tonne in the January contract shipment on Thursday, lower than last week’s $270.

The reduction in prices in Indonesia according to a trader was attributed to the off harvest season in the country and that has caused a depletion in coffee supplies in the country.

“Trade is very quiet these days because the harvest season has passed, it will likely stay muted until February or March,” the trader noted.