Although Vietnam is currently under pressure from rising inflation in key markets and global uncertainties, the country still managed to post record-breaking coffee exports in 2021/2022.
Statistics from the General Department of Customs show that Vietnam exported 1.42 million tonnes of coffee in the first ten months of this year, up 10.8% from the same period last year. In the 2021-2022 season, Vietnam exported 1.68 million tonnes of coffee worth more than $3.9 billion, a record revenue.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), coffee exports reached nearly $3.1 billion in the first nine months of 2022, up 37.6 per cent from the same period last year. Export coffee prices increased by almost 22 per cent to an average of about $2,280 per tonne.
The European Union remains the largest consumer of Vietnamese coffee, with a 39 per cent market share in the first eight months of 2022, amounting to 490,700 tonnes valued at $1.1 billion, “an increase of over 27 per cent in volume and over 54 per cent in value” compared to the same period a year ago.
In Europe, Germany is the leading consumer of Vietnamese coffee, followed by Italy, France, Spain and the UK in fifth place. Vietnamese coffee accounted for 29.9% of imported coffee, nearly one-third of all imported coffee in the first six months of 2022. Exports to Belgium, Spain, the Netherlands, France and Portugal also increased sharply compared to the same period last year.
Japan, Russia, Mexico, India and the US are also among the main buyers of Vietnamese coffee, with all countries increasing their imports from Vietnam. The country has also increased exports of processed coffee such as instant and ready-to-drink coffee, especially to China, a market that is growing at an average rate of 15% per year.
Vietnam begins its harvest season amid global uncertainties, lower coffee prices, rising inflation risks and unstable logistics, all of which are putting pressure on the global coffee industry. Dwindling coffee stocks are recovering and the largest coffee producers, Brazil and Vietnam, expect a healthy harvest next season.
Despite 20 years of high inflation, Vietnamese coffee exports have increased. Coffee is one of the indispensable commodities of the western world. Even though the market is very volatile at the moment, there will always be a demand for coffee.
Photo by Dang Cong on Unsplash
