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Coffee in short supply globally, but RI growers fail to gain
Excess rainfall means Indonesian producers cannot take advantage of a global deficit of coffee beans and high prices, particularly for robusta.
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Workers harvest coffee in the Kintamani region of Bali. (Courtesy of Putu Wirasathya Darmaja)
(Courtesy of Putu Wirasathya Darmaja)
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ncreased fertilizer costs and weather-hit crops are projected to cause a global shortage in coffee production this year, which will drive up prices, but Indonesian growers are unlikely to benefit.
“The world coffee market is expected to run another year of deficit, a shortfall of 7.3 million bags,” reads the International Coffee Organization’s (ICO) latest Coffee Market Report.
As a result, global coffee prices have risen since the start of the year and are predicted to climb further due to production constraints in Brazil, Vietnam and other major producing countries, capping supplies to the global market.
Higher coffee prices tend to push demand for robusta, a relatively cheap type of coffee, as producers seek to prevent too steep a price hike for consumers. Furthermore, robusta stockpiles in the number-one producing country, Vietnam, have been shrinking.
Normally, that should be good news for Indonesia, the world’s second-biggest robusta exporter.
However, domestic coffee output is projected to drop by a double-digit percentage figure this year.
