Coffee output drop may narrow as rainfall helps crops

Rains in Vietnam, the biggest coffee producer after Brazil, are supporting the crop in the country’s main growing region, growers said, likely easing concern about a shortfall in global supplies of the commodity.

“The weather has been quite favorable for the development of trees with sufficient rainfall scattered across coffee land here,” said Nguyen Xuan Thai, director at Thang Loi Coffee Co., the country’s largest grower in Dak Lak.

Rainfall in Buon Ma Thuot, capital of Dak Lak, Vietnam’s main region for planting the crop, totaled 962.2 millimeters from January 1 to August 10, compared with 906.4 millimeters in the same period a year earlier, according to figures from the Dak Lak Hydrology and Meteorology Office.

A boost to the nation’s coffee crop may help to narrow a drop in the global harvest forecast by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). Most Vietnamese output is robusta, the strong-tasting bean used in blends and instant drinks.

“The trees and the fruits are in very good state,” said Huynh Quoc Thich, head of the cultivation office in Dak Lak’s agricultural department. “However, it’s still too early to make any forecast on the crop’s output since we still have two more months to go before farmers can pick beans.”

The global coffee harvest will drop 5.4 percent to 127.44 million bags in the 2009-10 year as Brazil, the largest grower, enters a less-productive phase, the USDA said on June 12. A bag weighs 60 kilograms, or 132 pounds. Vietnam may harvest 18.35 million bags in 2009-2010, about 6.7 percent less than this year, the agency said.

Coffee beans form inside cherries or fruits, and an adequate rainfall prevents the crop from shriveling. Earlier this year, rains had hurt the flowering of Vietnam’s coffee bushes, before a dry spell in April harmed initial fruiting.

Vietnam Coffee and Cocoa Association is planning a field survey to coffee lands next month to make an estimate on the crop, Luong Van Tu, chairman of the group, said by phone Friday.

thanhnien, Bloomberg

>   Fund to keep gas stations in the black (15/08/2009)

>   Vietnam plans Japanese bullet-train link (15/08/2009)

>   Exporters hit with dozens of anti-dumping duties (15/08/2009)

>   Viettel afraid 3G service will send it to poorhouse (15/08/2009)

>   Two projects start in Hanoi high-tech park (15/08/2009)

>   Tourism sector looks to lower foreign visitor target (15/08/2009)

>   Draft law gets tough on imports (15/08/2009)

>   Vietnam, U.S. to renew air transport pact (15/08/2009)

>   Automobile prices will be less attractive in 2010 (15/08/2009)

>   Steel price increases make construction contractors suffer (15/08/2009)