Vietnam Coffee Exports Fall 15.7 per cent in Value to US$1.19B Jan-July

Vietnam is estimated to have earned US$1.19 billion from exporting 802 tons of coffee beans in the past seven months, down 15.7 per cent on-year in value despite a rise of 19.1 per cent in volume, the government’s General Statistics Office (GSO) said July 24.

 

Low value is mostly attributed to global price decreases, which have already pushed export prices of Vietnamese coffee beans to their lowest level since 2007 at US$1,245 per ton (FOB HCM City).

 

In July alone, coffee exports rose 7.7 per cent from the same month last year to around 70,000 tons, or 1.17 million 60-kilo bags, the statistics showed. The GSO, meanwhile, reported that the export volume in June was 78,000 tons compared to the earlier estimate of 85,000 tons.  

 

Vietnam Coffee and Cocoa Association (Vicofa) has recently proposed that the government should allocate preferential funds to purchase 200,000 tons of coffee for reserves, starting in October 2009 when the new harvest begins.

 

The move aims to prevent foreign speculative funds from cornering the markets.

 

The International Coffee Association said that Vietnam has the potential to harvest a bumper crop in 2009-2010 with expected output of 16.5 million 60-kilogram coffee bags, compared to the previous crop with 16 million bags.

 

At present, coffee is the country’s second-largest agro-product export item in terms of value, after rice. (GSO Jul Edition)