Rain, flooding expected to hit Vietnam coffee belt
Torrential rain is forecast to continue in Vietnam’s biggest coffee growing provinces in coming days, government reports said on November 4, potentially further disrupting harvesting of the 2016/2017 crop. That has been stoking worries about supply from the world’s top producer of the robusta variety of coffee, with rain already hitting harvests earlier this week, while drought earlier in the season could also crimp output. Prices for robusta, often used to churn out cheaper instant coffees, firmed on November 3 following news of rain in Vietnam. Up to 150 mm (six inches) of rain is forecast on November 4 and 5 in the provinces of Daklak and Lam Dong, Vietnam’s biggest coffee growing provinces, and also in south-central coastal provinces, the national weather centre said in a bulletin.
