Coffee lovers set for price pain as Vietnam reserves shrink

The dwindling reserves and poor harvest outlook come at a time when global coffee consumption is recovering from a virus-induced slump.

Robusta, used by instant coffee makers including Nestle or as a blend in espressos, has been making a comeback.

Vietnam’s vast hoard of coffee beans is shrinking, a phenomenon that’s set to push rising global prices even higher.

Stockpiles will halve by the end of September from a year earlier, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of traders. Output from Vietnam, the world’s largest robusta supplier and second-largest coffee producer, is also expected to drop in 2022-23.