July is the midpoint of the rainy season in Vietnam’s Central Highlands, an ideal time for farmers to plant new coffee trees. As a result, coffee‐seedling markets are “heating up,” with prices climbing by the day.
According to the Tay Nguyen (Central Highlands) Agro-Forestry Science and Technology Institute, orders for high-quality coffee seedlings were placed long ago, and its stock is now completely sold out. Yet along National Highway 27 in Hoa Thang Commune, Buon Ma Thuot City, coffee seedlings are still being sold steadily—though prices have nearly doubled compared with the same period last year.
Last year, grafted coffee seedlings sold for around 3,500 VND per plant and dropped to only about 1,000 VND late in the rainy season. Now, grafted seedlings have surged to over 6,500 VND each, while seedlings grown from seed are edging toward 4,000 VND and supplies are tightening.
This surge comes despite provincial authorities urging farmers to reduce new coffee plantings and instead focus on intensive cultivation to raise yield and quality. Yet people from neighboring provinces continue flocking in to buy seedlings—especially grafted varieties.
Officials warn that local authorities must act now to strictly manage the expansion of new coffee acreage, rather than waiting until over-planting forces costly corrections later.