Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuong (L) visits a coffee farm (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) - Vietnam exported up to520,000 tonnes of coffee worth 1 billion USD in the first quarter of 2018, anincrease of 15.1 percent in volume but a decrease of 1.7 percent in value comparedto the same period last year.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture andRural Development (MARD), Germany, the US, Indonesia, Italy and Japan wereamong the country’s key export markets. Germany accounted for more than 14percent of exports though its purchases fell by 18 percent year-on-year.
Do Ha Nam, deputy chairman of the Vietnam Coffeeand Cocoa Association, described the situation as “good.”
The sector’s export target for the 2017-18 cropis 1.5 million tonnes. In the last quarter of 2017, 400,000 tonnes of coffee hadbeen exported, meaning only another 600,000 tonnes have to be exported to meetthe target.
Nam said it is not a big number with five monthsstill to go for the end of the coffee season, and the target would surely beachieved.
Talking about prices in the domestic market, hesaid they are down slightly since the market is now mainly affected bymovements in the forward market. But many experts agreed there is no big threatthis year since supply and demand are closely matched, Nam said.
The association said Vietnam’s coffee output isexpected to increase by 15 percent this year, but would not create pressurebecause the increase would be much lower than in most years.
Vietnam exported 1.4 million tonnes last yearfor 3.2 billion USD. The country’s exports were down sharply last year due to afall in output because of the impact of climate change, but thanks to highprices, the export value was down by only 2.7 percent over 2016, theassociation said.
Vietnam is the second largest exporter behindBrazil. The country’s coffee industry has carried out a restructuring programmeto improve its competitiveness by improving productivity, quality and value.
Under the programme, the country plans to keepthe coffee growing area at 600,000ha and focus on planting new trees withhigher productivity and quality, it said.-VNA
