Vietnam's coffee exports expected to fall 30 percent
HANOI, Vietnam - Vietnam's coffee exports in the 2002-03 crop season are
likely to fall 30 percent to around 500,000 metric tons (551,000 US tons)
because of low world prices and poor weather, an industry group said Friday.
In the past decade, Vietnam has become one of the world's top coffee
producers. Rival coffee producers blame the country's rapid increase in output
for triggering the worldwide price drop.
The Vietnam Coffee Association said Vietnam exported 731,735 metric tons
(806,600 US tons) of coffee beans worth US$263.3 million in the 2001-02 crop
year, which ran from October 2001 to September 2002.
The country's earnings from coffee exports have fallen sharply — down 56.2
percent from a high of US$601.4 million in the 1997-98 crop year, the
association said.
Low prices due to a coffee glut have caused many Vietnamese coffee farmers
to reduce the amounts of water, fertilizer and other chemicals they apply to
their fields, the association said. Months of drought followed by floods also
reduced yields this year.
The government is also encouraging farmers to shift production to higher-quality
arabica beans. Vietnam is now the world's largest producer of lower-quality
robusta beans.
Vietnam's top coffee buyers during the last crop year were Germany, the United
States, Spain and Italy, the association said.
The Associated Press - October 25, 2002.
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