Vietnam's coffee exports down 13.72%

HANOI - Vietnam exported about 200,000 tons of coffee in the first quarter of this year, down 13.72 percent year on year.

Exporters' lack of capital to procure coffee for export was cited as the main reason behind the export drop, despite prolonged drought, which has devastated thousands of hectares under coffee in the Central Highlands provinces.

In Dac Lac province, which produces 60 percent of the country's total output, 16,920 hectares out of its total coffee area of 237,000 hectares have been damaged. This year's coffee output is estimated to dwindle to 600,000 tons from 770,000 tons in 2002.

The exports chiefly went to the United States, Germany, Spain, Belgium and the Switzerland.

Leading coffee exporters in the country have recently set up a club in a fresh move to promote export of the commodity. The club groups 15 members who have posted an export volume of at least 4,000 tons of coffee annually.

(Asia Pulse/VNA)