Vietnam to earn 3 bln USD from coffee exports in 2014

HANOI, April 23 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam is expected to sell some 1. 5 million tons of coffee to world market in 2014 to earn 3 billion U.S. dollars, said Vietnam Coffee-Cocoa Association (VICOFA) on Wednesday.

In the first quarter of 2014, a total of 602,000 tons of Vietnamese coffee worth 1.2 billion U.S. dollars was exported, up 25.3 percent in volume and 14.9 percent in value year-on-year, said General Department of Vietnam Customs.

In the first two months, Vietnam's coffee was sold at average export price of 1,880 U.S. dollars per ton, down 10.2 percent year- on-year, said a report by Vietnam's Ministry and Agriculture and Rural Development.

VICOFA predicted that the current droughts in coffee growing countries would possibly cause decrease of global coffee output, which is expected to lift up coffee prices.

Of the two main types of coffee, Arabica is sold at 4,300 U.S. dollars per ton while the price of Robusta is 2,100 U.S. dollars per ton. As a result, there is high opportunity for Vietnam to boost its coffee exports as the country accounts for 60 percent of the world's Robusta output, said the association.

Vietnamese coffee has been shipped to over 80 countries and regions worldwide. Germany and the United States remained as Vietnam's largest coffee importers with 14 and 11 percent of market shares, respectively, the website of Vietnamese government quoted VICOFA as saying Wednesday.

Source: Xinhua