Vietnam's COVID-19 lockdown adds to concerns over shortage of global coffee supply

Due to COVID-19 lockdown in Vietnam’s biggest city Ho Chi Minh, the concern over shortage in global supplies of coffee has increased. The South-East Asian nation is a major producer of robusta, which is the bitter-tasting bean used in instant coffee and some espresso blends. The lockdown of Ho Chi Minh means Vietnam's exporters are struggling to transport goods, including coffee beans, to ports for shipment around the globe. 

According to the BBC, Ho Chi Minh has been kept under strict travel restrictions after a surge in cases of the Delta variant of COVID-19. The travel restrictions have created a problem for exporters who were already facing a serious shortage of shipping containers and soaring freight costs. Therefore, the Vietnam Coffee-Cocoa Association and other trade organisations have called on the government to ease the restrictions in a bid to help avoid further delays to shipments and related costs. 

Vietnam's transport minister, on the other hand, responded to the concerns by ordering regional officials in the south of the nation to take action to ease unnecessary burdens on the transport of goods, including coffee. It is worth mentioning that Ho Chi Minh and its ports are a key part of the global shipping network that runs from China to Europe.

COVID-19 outbreak in Vietnam 

Meanwhile, the Vietnamese government last week imposed two weeks lockdown in Ho Chi Minh city. People in the city of 10 million are required to "stay put" and "stay in". The city has been in lockdown since June with public gatherings banned and non-essential business closed. It has also set up more than a dozen temporary hospitals to treat COVID-19 patients, however, the high number of cases means thousands of patients are not able to be hospitalized.

Moreover, people could only leave their homes to buy food or for urgent matters. Now, under the new restrictions, people in high-risk areas cannot leave home at all. Additionally, the government has also sent troops to Ho Chi Minh in a bid to deliver food and aid to households. Vietnam is experiencing its worst outbreak of the pandemic with more than half the country in lockdown to contain the virus. With new rules, the officials hope to flatten the surge and ease the pressure on the overloaded health care system. 

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