HANOI: Việt Nam exported 520,000 tonnes of coffee worth US$1 billion in the first quarter of the year, an increase of 15.1 per cent in volume but a decrease of 1.7 per cent in value compared to the same period last year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
Germany, the US, Indonesia, Italy and Japan were among the country’s key export markets. Germany accounted for more than 14 per cent of exports though its purchases fell by 18 per cent year-on-year.
Reviewing the exports, Đỗ Hà Nam, deputy chairman of the Việt Nam Coffee and Cocoa Association, described the situation as “good.”
The sector’s export target for the 2017-18 crop is 1.5 million tonnes.
In the last quarter of last year 400,000 tonnes had been exported, meaning only another 600,000 tonnes have to be exported to meet the target.
Talking about prices in the domestic market, he said they are down slightly since the market is now mainly affected by movements in the forward market.
“The market is currently quiet. There is no buyer or seller. In the short term coffee prices will not increase because there are is no driving factor. But starting in July, when the status of the coffee crop in Brazil, the world’s largest coffee producer, is clear, the market may fluctuate.”
