Vietnam Targets US$120M from Cocoa Bean Exports Annually by 2020

Vietnam targets to earn between US$100 million and US$120 million from exporting 86,000 tons of cocoa beans annually by 2020, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

 

To meet the target, the country will expand its total cocoa acreage to 80,000 hectares in 2020, with 60,000 hectares of which will be harvestable at expected output of 108,000 tons, the ministry said at a recent meeting in the southern province of Dong Nai.

 

Vietnam currently grows around 12,300 hectares of cocoa in orchards in the Mekong Delta, South Eastern and central highlands regions. Around 2,500 hectares are harvestable with a productivity of 0.4 tons per hectares on average, or an estimated output of 1,000 tons, said the Steering Board for Cocoa Development in Vietnam.

 

The beans are offered at high prices ranging from VND40,000 to VND60,000 per kilogram by Cargill Vietnam, the country’s largest cocoa purchaser.

 

Vietnam has much potential in developing the cocoa cultivation because its beans’ fermentation quality is among top ten in the world, the board said.

 

The cocoa cultivation will profit local farmers on the world’s growing demand, the Vietnam Coffee and Cocoa Association said. The world’s demand for the bean rises around 3%-4% yearly, or by 100,000-200,000 tons, it added. (Trade & Industry)