US: VN’s coffee output to increase by 7 percent

Coffee production in Vietnam will rise 7 percent next year because of favourable weather, a US Department of Agriculture (USDA) unit has said.

Output will increase to 18.7 million bags in the 12 months starting Oct. 1 from an estimated 17.5 million this year, the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service said in report posted recently on the agency’s website.

Vietnam produced 18 million bags in the year that ended Sept. 30. A bag weighs 60 kilogrammes.

Production will increase “due to reasonable rainfall during the coffee-blossoming period and the current drought of the dry season not yet reaching a critical point for coffee trees in the major coffee-growing areas,” the service said.

Projected output is down this year because of early torrential rains, the unit added.

Robusta coffee accounts for 97 percent of the country’s total output. Arabica production is projected to rise because of the expansion of growing areas, the service said.

Last year, Vietnam ’s export volume of robusta rose 10 percent to 1.17 million tonnes, with its value dropping 19 percent to 1.7 billion USD.

The service also noted that Vietnam , the world’s second-largest rice exporter and second-biggest producer of robusta coffee, aims to improve the quality of commodities to increase their export value, rather than concentrate on just raising their volume.

Tags: Vietnam Coffee, Vietnam coffee output