On March 8, the price of coffee in the Central Highlands provinces was recorded at 90,400 VND/kg (Lam Dong) to 91,800 VND/kg (Dak Nong), an increase of 1,400 – 1,700 VND/kg compared to the previous day.
The price of coffee on the London futures exchange for May delivery was also at 3,381 USD/ton, an increase of 72 USD/ton compared to March 7.
The price of coffee has been continuously increasing since the beginning of the year, with an increase of about 50%. Compared to the same period last year, the price of coffee has doubled.
The owner of a coffee production and business company in Gia Lai province jokingly said that coffee growers and businesses these days “just open their eyes and see the coffee price increase”.
He predicted that coffee prices will continue to rise in the coming months, at least for the next 2 months, when the world has additional coffee supply from other producing countries such as Indonesia, Brazil. The next peak prices could be 100,000 VND/kg, or even 120,000 VND/kg due to the scarcity of coffee.
Coffee prices are increasing
Mr. Le Huy Quang, CEO of Lê’s Farm High-Tech Agricultural Company (which grows and processes avocado and coffee trees), explained that coffee trees were neglected for a period of time due to low prices, and farmers switched to growing fruit trees, resulting in a decrease in output.
“Coffee is back in price, farmers are the first to benefit. With the price of 60,000 VND/kg, they were happy, now with the price exceeding 90,000 VND/kg, the joy is even greater. Coffee cultivation area is recovering and farmers are smarter, no longer abusing fertilizers as before” – Mr. Quang commented.
However, the increasing price of coffee has also caused difficulties for some businesses when they have to settle contract prices before purchasing, and the domestic price does not correlate with international prices. Many businesses lack capital to operate as banks do not increase loan limits when coffee prices increase.
According to the Import-Export Department (Ministry of Industry and Trade), estimated exports of coffee from Vietnam in the first two months of 2024 reached 438 thousand tons, worth 1.38 billion USD, an increase of 27.9% in volume and 85% in value compared to the same period in 2023.
In February 2024, the average export price of coffee from Vietnam was estimated at 3,276 USD/ton, an increase of 7.4% compared to January 2024 and an increase of 50.6% compared to February 2023.
