HANOI: Vietnam's domestic coffee prices edged down on Thursday from a week earlier, as pandemic-related movement curbs and high shipping costs are hindering transactions. Farmers in the Central Highlands, Vietnam's largest coffee-growing area, sold coffee at 34,600-35,500 dong ($1.50-$1.54) per kg, down from 34,800-36,200 dong a week earlier.

"Imminent coronavirus movement restrictions are expected to significantly slow down domestic transactions, while high shipping costs continues to limit the outflows of coffee," said a trader based in the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak. Vietnam will impose tight movement restrictions in its commercial hub Ho Chi Minh city for 15 days from Friday to tackle a coronavirus outbreak. The city is home to the country's key port for export activities.

An independent market analyst said the movement curbs won't likely have any meaningful impact on Vietnam's coffee export prices. "With or without the domestic movement restrictions, coffee exporters have already been facing high shipping cost due to container scarcity," the analyst said.

Comments

Comments are closed.