Despite the blazing sun, Mr. Phung Van Tam in Dak Nong still went to the fields with everyone to prune coffee branches, preparing for the new crop on the afternoon of February 13. He said: "Working in the fields in the sun is very hard, but drying coffee makes it dry quickly."

Mr. Tam's family harvested coffee from the beginning of the 12th lunar month and finished 10 days ago. The output of coffee beans reached 25 tons, equivalent to the previous crop despite the dry weather last year.

“I am drying the last batches of coffee of the season to store in the warehouse,” he shared, adding that he has no intention of selling even though the price of green coffee is being purchased at 133,000 VND/kg - back to the historical peak recorded in April 2024.

Last year, he also hit the jackpot when he sold coffee at 123,000 VND/kg. This season, with an output of 25 tons, he expects to earn several billion VND.

“Here, many people sell fresh coffee at 30,000 VND/kg right after harvest. That is also an unprecedented high price for coffee growers. My family chooses to sell green coffee, so after drying, we still have a full warehouse,” Mr. Tam said.

In Dak Lak, when the price of green coffee jumped to 133,000 VND/kg on the morning of February 13, Mr. Doan Van Hoan decided to sell nearly 30 tons, earning nearly 4 billion VND.

“There are about 55 tons of coffee beans in the warehouse, now I will split and sell more than half to be sure. I will sell the rest when the price increases,” he said and calculated that if he sold all the coffee in the warehouse and deducted expenses, he would pocket nearly 5 billion VND in profit this time.

In the coffee capital of the Central Highlands, the price of green coffee beans - the type of bean known as "brown gold" - continues to increase, fluctuating from 132,000-133,000 VND/kg.

Meanwhile, on the world market, coffee prices remain at record highs. Specifically, on the London exchange, the price of Robusta coffee for delivery in March 2025 increased to $5,817/ton, and the May delivery period was $5,821/ton.

Similarly, Arabica coffee prices on the New York floor continued to increase, up to 431.8 cents/lb for the March 2025 contract, and the May contract was priced at 420.2 cents/lb.

When referring to the increase in coffee prices in recent days, Mr. Phan Minh Thong - Chairman of the Board of Directors of Phuc Sinh Joint Stock Company - commented that the price increase was "crazy", beyond imagination. He predicted that there is still room for increase in the near future.

To adapt to the current high coffee prices, businesses are forced to buy high and sell high according to market prices, not fix prices early.

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Many farmers took home billions after selling coffee at peak prices. Photo: Nguyen Hue

“Very surprisingly, prices in both the world and Vietnamese markets increased sharply, reaching a historic peak,” Mr. Nguyen Nam Hai, Chairman of the Vietnam Coffee and Cocoa Association, told VietNamNet.

According to him, Arabica and Robusta coffee prices have been increasing since Tet. Currently, Arabica prices exceed 9,500 USD/ton, Robusta has also increased to over 5,800 USD/ton.

Notably, the price of Arabica coffee is about 3,700 USD/ton higher than Robusta. Therefore, the world's major roasters have to find cheaper Robusta sources. This has pushed the price of green coffee in the Vietnamese market back to its historical peak.

“This is a very rare case. According to the law of coffee harvest season, when supply is abundant in the market, prices will decrease. However, in this crop year, prices increased from the beginning of the harvest until the end and there are no signs of cooling down,” he analyzed.

Explaining the reason for the increase in coffee prices, Mr. Hai attributed it to market supply and demand. Supply is expected to decrease significantly as concerns about crop failure in major producing countries remain due to the impact of El Nino.

In addition, the possibility of the US imposing tariffs on goods from South America will also push up prices for this item. Because then, coffee from Brazil, Colombia, Peru... will be more expensive, creating an advantage for Vietnamese coffee.

In particular, when the world economy fluctuates strongly, speculators focus on hoarding some commodities, including coffee. This is also the reason for the high price increase.

“With the current price, farmers will earn very high profits from selling coffee,” Mr. Nguyen Nam Hai affirmed. For businesses, this is both a challenge and an opportunity. Because our country has just finished the harvest season, the source of goods is still quite abundant for export. However, the leader of the Vietnam Coffee - Cocoa Association also warned that exporting businesses need to be careful with long-distance buying and selling contracts.

Despite being disrupted by the Lunar New Year holiday, the export turnover of Vietnam's "brown gold" nut still exploded, earning 763 million USD - a historical record high.