HANOI: Coffee shipments from Vietnam, the world’s biggest robusta producer, will surge this year as farmers harvest a bigger crop, according to Industry and Trade Minister Tran Tuan Anh. Exports may total 1.55 million metric tons in 2018, Anh said in a written response to Bloomberg questions. Production is set to increase about 4.5 percent to 1.6 million tons in the 2017-18 season, Anh estimated.
Vietnam’s coffee exports will also be helped by smaller supplies from other countries, according to Anh. The country is the biggest exporter of coffee behind Brazil. Output in Indonesia, the world’s third-biggest robusta producer, will probably drop to the lowest in 7 years on unfavorable weather, accordingto the Association of Indonesian Coffee Exporters and Industry. Vietnam’s coffee production may be buoyed by good weather and as farmers benefited from last year’s higher prices, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Increasing exports could further weigh on benchmark robusta futures that have tumbled about 17 percent in London over the past year.
