Coffee exports reach $1.3 billion.

HA NOI -- Viet Nam exported 54,000 tons of coffee, with a total value of US$76 million in September, according to Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. The September export results revealed that 893,000 tons of coffee was exported in the first nine months of the year, worth nearly $1.32 billion in turnover.

Compared with the same period last year, export volume in the first nine months increased by 16.8%, but export value declined by 18%, the ministry said.

The Viet Nam Coffee and Cocoa Association predict that the next crop, which starts in November, will harvest between 1-1.2 million tons of coffee. Harvesting had resumed following Storm Ketsana, said the association. This newly-harvested coffee would boost total coffee export turnover in the whole year to more than $1.6 billion, said the association. The target is well within reach, according to the association, as Viet Nam currently has excess supplies for export.

The association announced that supplies from major coffee exporters such as Brazil and India are estimated to have dropped by 6% due to bad weather.

Global demand has also increased because of the world economy's recovery.

Viet Nam is now one of the leading Robusta coffee exporters, but Vietnamese exporters have little control over global prices, as they are dominated by international speculators. The association is now proposing that the Government provide loans to local coffee distributors to buy 200,000 tons of coffee from farmers.

On the London market, Robusta coffee price currently stands at $1,437 per ton, a 1.3% increase over the previous months, and the highest level since September 23.