Vietnam

Up to one third of Vietnam’s annual coffee output, or about 400,00 tons, is believed to have remained unsold by the end of April as farmers, unwilling to accept prices that are down 12% over last year, continued to hold on to their beans, according to Pham Dinh Khai, director of An Giang Coffee Co.’s Buon Ma Thuot branch.

In response to the situation, prime minister Nguyen Tan Dung has instructed the central bank to oversee a 200,000 ton program to boost robusta prices.

Unsold coffee "between 300,000 and 400,000 tons is pretty high compared with 100,000 to 200,000 tons at the same time in previous years," according to Pham. "This program is good in general, but a bit late in terms of timing. We should have this program undertaken at the peak of the harvest in November, December,"

Under the scheme, beans will be stockpiled for up to six months. Banks will grant exporters low-interest loans of 6% to buy and store beans. Exporters will buy the coffee between April 15 to July 15 and hold it for a maximum of six months, according to the State Bank of Vietnam’s website.