Coffee farmers to stem exports HANOI - Coffee producers will restrict exports until international prices improve, while Vietnam suffers the worst market conditions since 1992, according to industry sources. However, state-owned marketing bodies will continue buying in a bid to protect growers, a move which is expected to push stockpiles to at least 120,000 tonnes in the near future. Industry sources said the world market price for Vietnamese coffee stands at US$800 a tonne, well below the London market's standardised price of $1,100 and about $200 less than the break-even price for most domestic producers. Prices for unprocessed Vietnamese beans had already fallen drastically from $1,567 in January last year to $1,000 by the end of last year's harvest. "We don't expect improvements until [at least] the end of this year," said Nguyen Sy Luu of state-owned Vinacafe's Planning and Investment Department. "However we need to buy coffee from growers . . . if we don't they will not be able to survive," Mr Luu said. Doan Trieu Nhan, president of the Vietnam Coffee and Cocoa Association, said buyers had agreed to restrict exports during a recent crisis meeting and would try to maintain domestic prices at between $200 to $300 above the London price. Mr Nhan said the Vietnamese industry also would try to moderate future fluctuations in world prices by developing domestic processing capacity. "We are taking positive development steps . . . by planting new strains of coffee and improving processing to produce a better quality product," he said. According to Britain's International Coffee Organisation, Vietnam has emerged as the world's third-largest producer after Brazil and Colombia, eclipsing Indonesia and the Ivory Coast which were the third and fourth largest producers in 1997/98. The main export markets for Vietnamese coffee are Europe and the United States, but last year saw production of more than 400,000 tonnes of unprocessed beans shipped to 51 countries. By Huw Watkin - South Morning China Post - February 17, 2000.