Yunnan coffee beans are harvested at the end of this season, and the current purchase price is slightly profitable.

The farmers are sorting coffee beans. Photo taken by our reporter Zhao Yongfeng

In late April, the harvest of coffee in Yunnan has been completed, and in the harvest season of 2014 and 2015, the price of coffee beans in Yunnan has experienced twists and turns, from about 26 yuan / kg at its peak to about 18 yuan / kg at present. the price of coffee beans has dropped by about 8 yuan / kg.

With regard to the fluctuation of coffee prices in Yunnan, Hu Lu, deputy secretary general of Yunnan Coffee Industry Association, said: "although Yunnan is the largest coffee growing and producing area in China, it has little impact on the international market and has no pricing power in terms of price." However, some coffee bean buyers said that according to the current purchase prices of coffee beans in Yunnan, farmers still make a certain profit.

At the end of last year and the beginning of this year, Brazil, the world's largest coffee producer, suffered a severe drought, which hit the coffee growing industry and led to a sharp decline in coffee bean production, which in turn affected the global price of coffee beans. According to Hu Lu, "the price of coffee futures was at a good level last year, especially at the end of last year and the beginning of this year, the purchase price of Yunnan coffee beans was once around 26 yuan / kg." It is twice as high as the same period in 2013. "

However, this price did not last, and the purchase price of coffee beans in Yunnan began to fall in mid-February this year. A coffee bean buyer from Dehong told reporters, "the last round of coffee prices rose from December last year to February this year, when the price reached about 26 yuan / kg. Some farmers even hoarded some coffee beans and wanted to sell them when the price was higher; but since late February, the price of coffee beans in Yunnan began to fall. At present, the purchase price of Yunnan coffee beans is about 18 yuan / kg. Now there are a lot of hoarding farmers have begun to sell, because the cost of growing coffee beans is about 15 yuan / kg, according to the current market prices, farmers still have a certain profit. "

Hu Lu also said that from about 26 yuan / kg in mid-February to about 18 yuan / kg now, it has dropped by about 8 yuan / kg. There are two main reasons for its decline: first, the coffee picking season in Yunnan began to end in late February. This year, the coffee production capacity of the whole province reached about 110000 tons, the output increased sharply compared with last year, supply and demand gradually balanced, and prices began to fall. The second is that production has been reduced as a result of the drought in Brazil, which is the main coffee producing region in the world. From May, a new round of picking season is about to begin, when new coffee beans will be on the market. This has also had an impact on Yunnan coffee beans, which are mostly dependent on exports.

In fact, the lack of pricing power of coffee in Yunnan has always been a problem, and in recent years, Yunnan coffee has been trying to seize the pricing power through financial means. For example, in April last year, the Yunnan Coffee Trading Center project was launched in Pu'er. In January this year, Yunnan Coffee Trading Center successfully held the third Coffee Raw Bean Competition and the first Chinese boutique coffee auction. Hu Lu said: "after the establishment of the Futures Exchange, Kunming can concentrate coffee from all Southeast Asian countries. At that time, the total amount of coffee will reach 2 million tons, accounting for about 25% of the world, and the price of coffee beans in Yunnan will be self-controlled."

Source: Yunnan Information Daily