Coffee prices remain high, green coffee NKG to expand in Indonesia

Recently, coffee market prices have remained high due to problems in a number of coffee-producing countries and the impact of events in the international community. This has also led many coffee traders to say that their operations are fraught with difficulties.

First, in Brazil, the local information agency Somar Meteorologia reported that the state of Minas Gerais, which accounts for 30 per cent of Brazilian coffee production, had rainfall of 30.9mm in the past week, accounting for 59 per cent of the average. As a result, the price of Arabica has an upward trend. But Safras & Mercado recently raised its estimated Brazilian coffee crop value of 2023 to 61.1 million bags from 58.9 million bags.

But Brazil's production growth is not enough to make up for shortages in the rest of the world. In particular, Vietnam, the second largest coffee producer, has recently reported that the coffee market in Vietnam is chaotic. At present, the estimated price of coffee in the highlands of central Vietnam is 7600-77 million dong / ton. although the price is not high enough for 78 million dong earlier, some traders say that the price may exceed 80 million dong in the future.

In addition, according to Reuters, many farmers are reluctant to sell their coffee beans and want to sell them at higher prices. And some farmers have refused to deliver the previously pre-sold coffee beans, hoping to renegotiate the contract price, which has led to some external sales have been postponed. Vietnam's Ministry of Agriculture has earlier predicted that due to the influence of El Ni ñ o, there will be a drought in 2024, so Vietnam's coffee production in 2023 may fall by 10% in the 24th crop year.

Coupled with the persistence of the Red Sea problem, a number of international shipping companies announced the suspension of Red Sea routes, or chose to divert to the Cape of good Hope. As a result, sea freight rates continue to rise, and transportation costs have increased significantly. And the diversion has caused major producers such as Vietnam and Indonesia in the Asian region to face delays of about three weeks in coffee delivery. Inventory of Arabian inventory cards monitored by Immigration and Customs Enforcement reached a 24-year low of 224066 bags.

As a result, Neumann Kaffee Gruppe (NKG), the world's largest trader of raw coffee beans, said it would expand its business in Indonesia to launch a new business for the import, storage and distribution of coffee in the country. The new facility will be set up in Jakarta, where NKG Indonesia Import will be able to use the resources of the centre and NKG's network of exporters to serve Indonesian coffee roasters.

Indonesia is the world's third-largest coffee producer, but its coffee consumption has been growing rapidly, and NKG predicts that local consumption will soon exceed the country's production, leading to an increase in imports, according to the USDA. As a result, new business has been opened locally, and it is hoped that coffee can be imported and exported through Asia to reduce shipping costs and time.