Domestic coffee exporters expect a promising year

Vietnam’s coffee exports are expected to have a good start to 2021 after a gloomy year due to the severe impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic, according to industry insiders.

Vietnam’s coffee exports are expected to have a good start to 2021 - Illustrative image (Photo: VNA)

Last year, the Southeast Asian country gained 2.66 billion USD from shipping 1.51 million tonnes of coffee abroad, falling 7.2 percent in value and 8.8 percent in volume year-on-year.

Vietnamese coffee products have been present in more than 80 countries and territories worldwide, and accounted for 14.2 percent of the global coffee bean market share. In 2020, German, the US and Italy continued to be the largest coffee importers of Vietnam.

According to the Agro Processing and Market Development Authority under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, coffee prices are expected to surge in 2021 since global coffee stocks have fallen to the lowest level in the past years.

Chairman of the Vietnam Coffee-Cocoa Association Luong Van Tu held that the coffee market has gone through four consecutive years of falling prices, and the coffee prices are likely to increase in 2021 due to a decline in global supplies.

However, the coffee sector’s ability to gain its bounce depends largely on the recovery of the tourism sector, he added.

A wide range of free trade pacts such as the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) are billed as catalysts that help Vietnamese coffee reach out to the world.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Quoc Doanh said under the EVFTA, the EU removes tariffs on all unroasted or roasted coffee products (from 7-11 percent to 0 percent), and processed coffee (from 9-12 percent to 0 percent) since the deal took effect on August 1, 2020.

Vietnam’s coffee industry also gains competitive edge over its rivals since it is among 30 Vietnamese geographical indications recognised and protected by the EU under the trade agreement, he added.

In a bid to effectively carry out the EVFTA, the ministry asked localities to apply state-of-the-art technologies into coffee cultivation, processing and preservation to meet requirements of EU importers.

Localities are also encouraged to increase the percentage of specialty coffee plantation, register geographical indications and build brands for their coffee products.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Foreign Trade Agency said Vietnam has envisaged to develop the coffee sector in a uniform and modern manner, aiming to rake in 6 billion USD from coffee exports by 2030.