Vietnam Exports 70,000 Tons of Coffee in February

Vietnam, the world’s largest Robusta coffee exporter, is estimated to ship 70,000 tons of coffee abroad in February, down 26,000 tons or 20.8 per cent compared with February last year, according to incomplete statistics released by the government on February 27.

 

The statistics also show that February’s coffee exports raked in US$76 million, up US$11 million or 16 per cent on-year. 

 

Meanwhile, the country gained US$165 million from selling 151,000 tons of coffee abroad in the first two months of this year, up 1.8 per cent in value and down 37.3 per cent in volume against the same period last year, according to the Government Statistics Office (GSO).

 

Increasing prices for Vietnamese coffee in the global market are mostly attributed to high export revenue despite a sharp fall in export volume, said a local coffee trader.

 

The trader added that the export prices of coffee could fall, but not below US$920 per ton as demand is predicted to exceed supply this year

 

The purchase price of raw coffee in the domestic market ranges from VND19 million (US$1,200) to VND20 million (roughly US$1,300) per ton, while export prices are over US$1,200 per ton, the highest level for the past six years.

 

Coffee is currently the second key agricultural product after rice in Vietnam. Its export revenue accounted for approximately 10 per cent of the nations’ total annual export value.

 

The biggest consumers of Vietnamese coffee include the US, Belgium, Germany, Spain, Italy, France, Japan and South Korea.