HANOI/BANDAR LAMPUNG, (Indonesia): Vietnamese coffee prices edged higher this week due to concerns about how lack of water and potential drought conditions may affect crops, while in Indonesia, there was concern that the harvest could be delayed until late May or June.

Farmers in the central highlands, Vietnam’s largest coffee-growing area, were selling beans for 101,200-103,000 dong ($4.06-$4.13) per kg, up from last week’s 98,100-100,200 dong, according to farmers and traders. Vietnamese coffee prices have been on a rising trend since October amid tight supplies.

“Only when coffee harvesting activities in Brazil and Indonesia start, will farmers stop expecting higher prices and become willing to release more beans,” Nguyen Ngoc Quynh, deputy director of the Mercantile Exchange of Vietnam, said in a note to clients this week. Robusta coffee for July delivery settled up $16 at $3,743 per metric ton on Wednesday. Vietnam exported 799,000 tons of coffee in the first three months of 2024, up 44.4% from a year earlier, government data showed.

Coffee export revenue in the same period rose 54% to $1.9 billion, the General Statistics Office said in a report. In Indonesia, Sumatra robusta coffee beans were offered at a premium of $550 per metric ton to April contracts, down from $720 a week ago, a trader said, adding that prices in London had surged in the last few days.