Indonesia, Vietnam eye pact to lift coffee prices
Indonesia, Vietnam eye pact to lift coffee prices
Dow Jones, Singapore
A meeting between coffee exporters from Vietnam and Indonesia
next week may lead to a draft trade agreement to boost sagging
coffee export prices, according to the Association of Indonesian
Coffee Exporters, or AEKI.
In an interview with Dow Jones Newswires Tuesday, Nuril Hakim,
vice chairman of AEKI, said the association will ask members of
the Vietnam Coffee and Cocoa Association, or Vicofa, to reduce
coffee production.
The meeting will be held on Oct. 25 or 26 in Dak Lak province
- Vietnam's biggest coffee producing area. AEKI said several of
its members will attend the meeting as well as a representative
from Indonesia's trade ministry.
"The big problem is production. (If there's less supply) the
export prices will be better," Nuril said, adding that exporters
and farmers in Vietnam and Indonesia will continue to suffer if
world prices remain depressed.
AEKI and Vicofa might draft a bilateral trade agreement to
solve this problem, he said. No further details were provided.
Vietnam and Indonesia are among the world's biggest coffee
producers and exporters.
Vietnam, which exported a record 874,676 metric tons of coffee
in the 2000-2001 crop season, has been widely blamed for causing
a global glut which has pressured prices.
On the London International Financial Futures and Options
Exchange and the New York's Coffee, Sugar & Cocoa Exchange,
coffee futures have been trading at near historical lows for the
past few days.
Nuril said AEKI would like to know more about the Vietnamese
government's policies and projects which helped improve coffee
yield in Vietnam.
Based on this information, AEKI will send a proposal on
improving domestic yield to Indonesian Trade Minister Rini
Soewandi, he said.
AEKI will also study the farming techniques of Vietnamese
growers to try to improve coffee yield in Indonesia, Nuril said.
In a separate interview, a senior Vicofa official said several
Indonesian exporters will visit Vietnam's biggest coffee
producing area.
But the official said, "we don't have any scheduled meeting
with AEKI so far." He said the group hasn't received any
"official information" on the matter.
Some industry sources said the Vietnamese Trade Minister will
attend the meeting but an official of Vietnam's trade ministry
denied this report.