Vietnam, the world’s second largest coffee producer after Brazil, is estimated to have exported 767,000 tons of coffee in the first eleven months of this year, earning US$910 million, according to a monthly report released by the General Statistics Office (GSO).
The report also showed that coffee shipments January-November witnessed a drop of 6 per cent in terms of volume but revenue from the sales of the beans, mostly Robusta, rose by 38.1 per cent against the same period last year thanks to better prices in the global market.
Early this month export prices surged to the highest levels since 1999 on the back of gains in London futures. On November 7, Vietnamese Robusta coffee was quoted at US$1,530 per ton, free-on-board basis.
In recent days, coffee prices have gradually gone down on the international market, causing the falling price in Vietnam’s Central Highlands region where a kilo of coffee currently costs only VND20,500 (US$1.3), some VND3,000 (18.7 US cents) lower than the previous week.
The coffee harvest has already started in Vietnam, between 20 per cent and 25 per cent of the new crop is already picked, and harvesting is now in full swing in the key growing areas of the Central Highlands region.
The harvest should end in early January, and farmers will then start fertilizing trees for the next crop cycle.
Vietnam’s coffee crop year ends in September.
On November 21, the US Agriculture Department said the new crop should produce 22.2 per cent more than the previous crop or about 16.5 million 60-kilo bags.
The department cited better weather, lower pest risk and new trees becoming productive as the key factors.
Vietnam is projected to harvest around 13.5-14.5 million bags under this crop, up from 11.5 million bags in the previous season.
Foreign traders said the forecast underestimated the potential crop to push prices up, and put the likely crop at between 15 million and 18.6 million bags.
(GSO November Edition, Young People)
Vietnamese
