Coffee exporters in Vietnam, the world’s biggest grower of the robusta variety used in instant drinks, may slow shipments as rains in the central highlands increase concern about harvest delays, traders and growers said. “We still signed export contracts with overseas clients, but with delivery time about one month later than we initially planned,” said Cao Van Tu, director of Ea Pok Coffee Co., a grower and exporter in Dak Lak province. “We delayed the shipments in case rains prolong and slow the harvest which should start at the end of the month,” Tu said by phone today. Buon Ma Thuot, the capital of Dak Lak province, recorded 239.4 millimeters of rain from Oct. 1 to 20, 47 percent more than the 162.8 millimeters in the same period a year earlier, according to figures from Dak Lak Hydrology and Meteorology Office in the central highlands, the country’s main growing area. “The rainy season came a bit late this year,” said Nguyen Dai Nguong, director of the weather office. “Looking at some recent weather developments, I expect the rains will last until at least Nov. 10,” Nguong said by phone today. Robusta for January delivery jumped 10 percent in London in the past four days on concern supply may lag behind demand. The contract fell 2.2 percent today to $1,851 a metric ton. Even as the rains may delay deliveries, they have not caused damage to the crop, according to traders and growers. “The rains have not harmed the crop yet,” said Bui Hung Manh, head of the business department at Tay Nguyen Coffee Investment, Import and Export Co., the biggest exporter. Floods and heavy rains which started early this month in lower-lying areas in central Vietnam killed 76 people including 22 found dead yesterday in the central provinces of Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Quang Binh and Thanh Hoa, Vietnam’s Central Committee for Flood and Storm Control said on its website today. --Nguyen Dieu Tu Uyen. Editor: James Poole To contact the reporter on this story: Nguyen Dieu Tu Uyen in Ho Chi Minh City at uyen1@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Poole at jpoole4@bloomberg.net

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