Typhoon Kalmaegi brings rains to Vietnam’s coffee region, slowing harvest

HANOI: A part of Vietnam’s Central Highlands, the country’s largest coffee-growing region, faces heavy rains from Thursday triggered by Typhoon Kalmaegi, disrupting the harvest that is already underway, traders said on Thursday.

Typhoon Kalmaegi, which has caused destruction in the Philippines, is expected to make landfall in Vietnam late on Thursday, bringing heavy rain to both coastal and Central Highlands provinces, the national weather agency said. “It’s already raining. Prolonged rains will stop farmers from picking beans, causing cherries to drop and potentially disrupting the drying process later,” said a trader based in Dak Lak province, the heart of Vietnam’s coffee-growing region and directly in the typhoon’s path.

“In the worst case, strong winds could break branches and hurt the next crop,” the trader added. In the Central Highlands, farmers sold beans at 118,200 dong to 119,300 dong (USD4.49 to USD4.53), up from last week’s range of 115,500 dong to 116,500 dong. Robusta coffee for January delivery settled up USD5, at USD4,686 per metric ton on Wednesday.

Traders offered 5percent black and broken-grade 2 robusta at a discount of USD50 per ton to the January LIFFE contract, compared with a USD150 to USD200 discount range a week earlier. Vietnam exported 1.31 million metric tons of coffee over the January-October period, up 13.4percent from a year earlier, government data showed on Thursday.

Export revenues over the period rose 62percent to USD7.4 billion. In October, Vietnam exported 70,000 tons of coffee, a year-on-year increase of 54.7 percent. In Indonesia, Sumatra robusta coffee beans were offered at a USD90 discount to the December contract, compared with an USD80 discount to the November-December contract.