Coffee exports fall by over 11% in Q1
Vietnam exported 428,000 tonnes of coffee worth US$771 million in the first quarter of 2021, down 17% in volume and 11.3% in value year on year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).
In March alone, 145,000 tonnes of coffee were shipped abroad, bringing home US$275 million. The figures respectively rose 18% and 27.3% month on month, but declined 21.1% and 11% compared to the same period last year.
Despite a drop in both export volume and value, export prices still increased in Q1, the MARD said, noting that prices of Vietnamese coffee averaged US$1,897 per tonne in March, up 7.9% from the previous month and 12.8% year on year.
During Q1, average coffee export prices grew 6.8% from a year earlier to US$1,801 per tonne.
MARD statistics also showed that in the first three months, the country exported US$10.61 billion worth of agricultural, forestry and fishery products, up 19.7% year on year. Meanwhile, imports hit US$7.74 billion, up 44.7%.
That resulted in a trade surplus of US$2.87 billion for the agricultural sector during the period.