Much room for Vietnam’s coffee export to Japan: newspaper

A farmer harvests coffee in the Central Highlands province of Kon Tum. (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnamis believed to have much room for exporting coffee to Japan, whose hot coffeemarket is forecast to grow 4.2 percent during 2020 - 2025, according to CongThuong (Industry & Trade) newspaper.

In April, Vietnam shipped10,540 tonnes of coffee worth 25.9 million USD to Japan, up 39.8 percent involume and 61.8 percent in value from a year earlier.

The four-month figures reached45,140 tonnes and 110.13 million USD, respectively rising 13.4 percent and 45.4percent, according to the General Department of Vietnam Customs.

Coffee export prices stood at2,440 USD per tonne on average in the first four months, representing ayear-on-year increase of 28.2 percent.

Notably, a surge was recordedin the sale of processed coffee to Japan, by 63.6 percent in the first quarterto 16.3 million USD. The product accounted for 19.38 percent of the total coffeeshipments to this Northeast Asian country during the period, compared to 16.93percent in Q1 last year.

GlobalData, a London-baseddata analytics company, predicted Japan’s hot coffee market will expand by 4.2percent during 2020 - 2025.

With a population of over 126million, Japan has high demand for imported agricultural products, including coffee.

In addition, tariff cutcommitments in the free trade deals to which both countries are parties likethe Vietnam - Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (VJEPA), the ASEAN - Japan ComprehensiveEconomic Partnership (AJCEP), the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement forTrans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership(RCEP) are also expected to open up big chances for Vietnam’s products,including coffee.

However, Vietnamese coffee hasmade up just a modest part of Japan’s total imports, Cong Thuong reported.

The newspaper cited the Vietnamesecounsellor in Japan as saying that opportunities are considerable foragricultural products, including coffee, but to raise the market share, businessesmust meet food safety standards and raw materials be produced under the GoodAgricultural Practices (GAP), Hazards Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP)or Japanese Agricultural Standards (JAS) systems.

Enterprises were also recommendedto set up good relations with major importers of Japan, learn about localconsumers’ taste, diversify products designs, improve quality, and reduceproduction costs./.

VNA