A crisis in Vietnam’s coffee exports affects global supplies and prices

Vietnam’s coffee exports fell to their lowest level in 15 years last May, and the decline is expected to continue in the coming months, which would negatively affect the volume of global coffee supplies, and thus keep prices high.

According to data from the Vietnamese Customs Authority, the country’s coffee exports fell below 80,000 tons last month, a 47% decline year-on-year, and this represents the lowest amount of exports during May since 2009, according to Bloomberg calculations.

It is noteworthy that Vietnam is the world’s largest producer of Robusta coffee, and Do Ha Nam, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Intimex Group, one of the largest shipping companies, said that Vietnam’s coffee exports are expected to remain “small” monthly, until the start of the grain harvest season. Next October. Nam, who is also vice president of the Vietnam Coffee and Cocoa Association, added that the stocks held by farmers have almost been exhausted.

Robusta coffee futures prices rose on the London Stock Exchange to their highest levels in 16 years, partly due to a shortage of coffee supplies from Vietnam, which provides a third of the world’s production of these beans, which are used in preparing instant coffee and espresso. The volume of Vietnam’s coffee exports since 2009 has reached about 100 thousand tons. The country exported 1.19 million tons during the current season, a decrease of 6.9% year on year.