HANOI- Coffee exports from Vietnam are estimated to have decreased 13.1 percent in the first two months of 2023 from a year earlier to 323,000 tons, equivalent to 5 million 60-kg (130-pound) bags, the General Statistics Office said on Tuesday.
Coffee export revenue for Vietnam, the world’s biggest producer of the robusta bean, fell 14.6 percent to $703 million in the January-February period, the agency said.
The country’s coffee shipments in February are estimated at 180,000 tons, valued at $393 million.
Vietnam’s industrial output and exports rose in February from a year earlier, partly helped by higher footwear sales, in a possible sign of recovering global demand for goods produced in the Southeast Asian industrial powerhouse.
But indicating the caution among factory managers amid an uncertain global outlook, production of smartphones and cellphone parts, of which Vietnam is one of the world’s biggest producers, fell despite a rise in exports.
The country’s statistics agency said on Tuesday that Vietnam’s exports rose 11 percent in February from a year earlier and industrial output increased 3.6 percent in the same month.
The rise in output in February follows an 8 percent year-on-year drop in production in January, when activity typically slows for the week-long celebrations for the Lunar New Year.
In the first two months of the year, industrial production was down 6.3 percent compared to the same period last year.
Smartphone output in the country which is home to major Samsung factories was down nearly 10 percent on the year and the output of cellphone parts fell by nearly 15 percent.
Smartphone exports, however, were up 14,7 percent, in a possible sign that companies reduced their inventory in February.
Footwear production rose by nearly 19 percent in February on the year and exports climbed 4.1 percent, after a big fall in January. In the first two months of the year shoe exports were still down by 16 percent compared to the same period last year.
Taiwan’s Pou Chen Corp, the world’s largest maker of branded sports footwear and a top supplier to Nike and Adidas, plans to cut around 6,000 jobs in Vietnam due to weak demand, two local officials familiar with the company’s plans said earlier in February.
In total, Vietnam’s exports rose sharply in February to $25.88 billion, after a 21.3 percent fall in January.
With imports dropping in February by 6.7 percent, the country recorded a trade surplus of $2.3 billion in the month.— Reuters
