High coffee prices, farmers hold back goods waiting for price increase

The price of green coffee beans has remained at around 120,000 VND/kg for almost the entire harvest season. Many farmers in the Central Highlands are still holding on to their products and not selling them early.

Many Gia Lai farmers rent drying yards and machines to dry stored coffee - Photo: TAN LUC

The coffee harvest season in Gia Lai is coming to an end, but instead of "selling green rice" or selling fresh, many farmers keep it to dry and store.

Along both sides of village roads and commune roads leading to coffee growing areas, people are spreading coffee beans out to dry in front of their houses. Due to high prices, families take turns staying awake to prevent theft. In Yen The ward (Pleiku city), Mr. Tran Van Thong's family of three has set up a tent in the drying yard and has been taking turns staying awake to watch over the coffee for nearly a month.

Although he only cultivates 800 coffee trees, Mr. Thong's garden still harvests 16 tons of fresh coffee and he does not sell it immediately like every year, but keeps it to dry and grind the beans for storage.

According to Mr. Thong, with prices remaining stable, drying and selling coffee beans will be more profitable than selling them fresh, not to mention if the price continues to increase, the harvest will be much more bountiful than last year.

Showing off his new SH scooter bought for nearly 110 million VND from selling coffee, a farmer in Blang 1 village, Ia Der commune (Ia Grai district) said his family has harvested more than ten tons of coffee this crop year.

In addition to a portion sold fresh to pay for harvesting and household items, the rest is dried and stored to wait for the price to increase because money is not urgently needed.

While raking coffee beans in front of his house, Mr. Puih Nglơi (Ia Der commune) said the price of main-season coffee has never been as high as this year.

With 800 coffee trees, he harvested 11 tons of fresh coffee and estimated that after drying, he would sell it for more than 300 million VND.

"In recent years, coffee prices have been good, I have money to send my two children to school and buy household appliances. I am planting 900 more trees, and plan to harvest the first crop next year," said Mr. Ngloi.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Dung, owner of a coffee agency in Yen The ward, said that purchasing coffee this year is more difficult than previous years because few people bring goods to sell.

According to Ms. Dung, this season, most farmers are holding back their goods in the hope of higher prices. Some say they will sell when the price reaches 150,000 VND/kg. In addition, because last year many dealers went bankrupt, this year very few people bring their goods to the warehouse of the dealer for consignment, but instead store them at home waiting for the price to increase.

"I think partly people are greedy, waiting for better prices, but partly this year people don't need money so they stock up because at the current price, selling just a little is enough for household expenses. Coffee prices are very high, 2-3 times higher than previous years," said Ms. Dung.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/gia-ca-phe-cao-nong-dan-ghim-hang-cho-gia-tang-20241225084151683.htm