Coffee Prices Fall to Lowest Level since March

Export prices of Vietnamese coffee dropped to only US$1,489 a ton this week, the lowest level for the past nine months, local media reported, citing the Vietnam Coffee and Cocoa Association (Vicofa).

 

The association said the price marked a loss of US$220 per ton compared with October, and US$520 against September of this year.

 

“The drop in coffee prices over the last few months was unprecedented,” Luong Van Tu, chairman of the association said, adding that export volume has also decreased, including in such biggest markets as Germany, the U.S. and Italy with falls of 28 per cent, 48 per cent and 22 per cent, respectively.

 

The fall in export is being blamed for the global recession.

 

The Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development recently said the country will keep its coffee area at 520,000 hectares in 2009 because export prices are forecast to drop between 5 per cent and 8 per cent from 2008. (VNS)