MILAN – Vietnam ’s General Statistics Office (Gso) expects coffee exports for the month of December to be 6.5% lower on year at 130,000 tons, or 2,166,667 60-kg bags. This brings cumulative exports for calendar year 2021 to 1.52 million tonnes, down 2.7% on year. Surging freight costs and the limited availability of shipping containers have reduced coffee exports from Vietnam.
Coffee export will likely rise 9.4% to around $3 billion this year, the report said. In its annual Congress earlier this week, the Vietnam Coffee – Cocoa Association (VICOFA) has set the target to expand instant roasted coffee exports and boost export revenue to $5-6 billion by 2030 under the slogan “productivity, quality, added value.”
Vietnamese farmers have been ramping up their harvest of coffee beans in the Central Highlands, Vietnam’s largest coffee-growing area, to take advantage of supportive weather, according to traders quoted by Reuters.
“Farmers have harvested 80% of this year’s crop and are speeding up drying of beans as it’s sunny now,” a trader in the coffee belt province of Dak Lak said.
Farmers in the Central Highlands sold coffee COFVN-DAK last week at 40,300-42,000 dong ($1.76-$1.83) per kg.
Traders in the country offered 5% black and broken grade 2 robusta COFVN-G25-SAI at discounts of $440-$430 per tonne to the March contract.
“At this discount range, domestic prices should be around 45,000 dong per kg. However, due to the supply chain disruption, beans can’t be transferred properly and buyers cannot offer higher,” the Dak Lak-based trader said.
The Ice Robusta contract for March delivery closed $21 up yesterday to a new record high of $2,364.
The Ice Arabica contract for March delivery rose by 330 points to 228.90 cents per lb. Prices were fuelled by renewed drought concerns in Brazil. Somar Meteorologia reported Monday that Minas Gerais, Brazil’s main Arabica producer, received 11 mm of rain or only 23% of the historical average last week.
Wednesday’s projection from Ecom Trading of a global 2021/22 coffee deficit of 12.8 million were also bullish for prices. Ecom Trading also predicts world 2021/22 coffee production will fall -9.4% y/y to 158 million bags.
