Vietnam exported 767,000 tons of coffee worth 910 million U.S. dollars in the first 11 months of this year, down 6 percent in volume but up 38.1 percent in value against the same period last year.

Vietnam is likely to gain coffee export turnover of over 1 billion U.S. dollars this year, up from 725 million dollars last year, mostly due to higher world prices, local newspaper Saigon Liberation on Tuesday quoted prediction of the country's Trade Ministry as reporting.

The average export price of Vietnamese coffee in the 11-month period stood at 1,186 dollars per ton, while that in early 2006- 2007 coffee crop was below 1,000 dollars. Vietnam's main coffee export markets include the European Union, the United States, Japan and Singapore.

Vietnam, the world's second biggest coffee exporter, is expected to harvest 810,000-870,000 tons of coffee in the 2006- 2007 crop, starting last November, up from 690,000 tons in the previous one, according to the Vietnam Coffee and Cocoa Association.

Local farmers and enterprises should join hands to grow and process coffee on larger scale by employing more advanced equipment and technologies, the association said, noting that many coffee exporters in Vietnam are weak in terms of finance, trade expertise, and information analysis capability.

Source: Xinhua