The General Department of Customs (GDC) reported that Vietnam’s coffee exports were low in August, just 85,650 tons, which brought turnover of $258.5 million, a 25.1 percent decrease in quantity and 2.9 percent decrease in value compared with August 2022.

In the first eight months of the year, Vietnam’s coffee exports reached 1.2 million tons, worth $2.96 billion, down 5.4 percent in quantity, but up 3.1 percent compared with the same period last year. 

Vietnam’s coffee export prices reached a record high of $3,054 per ton in August, up 8 percent over the month before and 29.7 percent over August 2022.

The average export price in the first eight months was $2,463 per ton, or 8.9 percent higher than in the same period last year.

Exports to Germany, Spain and Belgium decreased, but exports to Italy, the US, Japan, Russia, Algeria and the Netherlands increased sharply. Exports to Indonesia grew by 157.8 percent in volume and 118.6 percent in value.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT), coffee prices have been escalating for fear for El Nino, predicted to come by the end of the year. El Nino may cause drought in some of the major countries that produce coffee in the Pacific Rim, and the volume of coffee certified on both trading floor remains low.

In the domestic market, coffee prices keep increasing. On September 15, coffee prices in Dak Lak surged to VND66,600 per kilogram. In Lam Dong, coffee was traded at VND65,900 per kilogram. The prices were VND66,400 per kilogram in Gia Lai and VND66,900 in Dak Nong.

According to the Lam Dong Industry and Trade Department, as of September, the province’s coffee exports had reached 69,250 tons, worth $154.5 million.

Export prices for Vietnamese coffee beans are high but stockpiles of exporters and farmers are running out. 

Phan Minh Thong, president of Phuc Sinh JSC, said coffee price has reached to the 30-year record high of VND71,000 per kilogram, but exporters don’t have coffee to sell. 

It is estimated that Vietnam’s coffee output may decrease by 10-15 percent because of unfavorable weather.

Tam An