Coffee exports reduce in volume but grow in value

Coffee exports dipped 13.9% to nearly 709,000 tons with revenue jumping 13.7% to US$1.6 billion in the first five months of this year, according to the General Department of Vietnam Customs.

Major coffee importers in the period included the EU (332,000 tons valuing US$734 million, down 10.2% in volume but up 16.8% in value), the US (down 1.6% to 105,000 tons with a value up 30.6% to US$238 million) and Japan (down 6.8% to 41,000 tons with a value up 19.4% to US$95 million).

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said the average export price in the first four months was US$2,267 per ton, up 33.5%.

In the domestic market, the price of coffee bean also rose 4 cent (VND900) to US$1.8 (VND43,000) per kilo.

Last year, Vietnam exported 1.79 million tons of coffee to get US$3.36 billion, up 33.6% in volume and 25.6% in value against 2015.

It is predicted that this year coffee exports will drop in both volume and value as a result of extreme weather. Coffee output is expected to hit around 1.3 million tons, down 20-30% compared to last year.

Early this year, the International Coffee Organization predicted that the world coffee industry will continue to witness output decline for the third consecutive year.