Experts have predicted little changes in the prices of Vietnamese coffee in the 2010-2011crop, with prices between 24,000-29,000 VND per kg.

By the end of September, 2010, coffee growers in the Central Highlands of Tay Nguyen, Vietnam ’s largest coffee-growing area, sold their beans harvested in the 2009-2010 crop for 31,000 VND a kilo - the highest price recorded in the past two years.

According to the Vietnam Coffee and Cacao Association (Vicofa), although output of a large coffee-growing area in Vietnam, which is currently the world’s second largest coffee exporter, is likely to be affected by dry October weather and ageing, the International Coffee Organisation (ICO) has forecast that the world’s coffee output in the 2010-2011 crop is likely to reach 133 million 60-kg bags, a rise of 7 million bags compared with the 2009-2010 crop.

In the past nine months, Vietnam shipped abroad 925,000 tonnes of coffee beans for 1.32 billion USD, which represented rises of 4.2 percent and 0.9 percent in terms of volume and value year on year.

Vietnam’s largest coffee market is Germany, accounting for 13.5 percent of total export volume, followed by the US, which takes 12.7 percent of Vietnam’s coffee exports./.