RI delays coffee talks and eyes new deals
RI delays coffee talks and eyes new deals
Dow Jones, Jakarta
Indonesia will hold off talks with Vietnam with regards to a
previously proposed coffee retention plan, and will instead
embark on new plans organized by the governments of both
countries, a senior Indonesian official said Wednesday.
Ferry Yahya, director of exports for agriculture and mining
products under Indonesia's Ministry of Industry and Trade, told
Dow Jones that meetings between the two countries on the proposed
retention plan have been postponed indefinitely.
Indonesia, however, is more keen to seal a more stable
government-to-government agreement with Vietnam to cut exports in
an attempt to boost dismal coffee prices.
Ferry said Indonesia will send a proposal to Vietnam on this
alternative cooperation between the two countries.
"The program will include an option of a 50 percent cut in
exports by the two countries or the implementation of a 1:2 ratio
in exports, which means if Indonesia exports 100,00 metric tons
of coffee, Vietnam will export 200,000 tons," he said.
"In principle, Vietnam has agreed, but we can only send a team
there for discussions after we get a final word from the
officials there," Ferry said.
In late July, Indonesia announced that it planned to retain
100,000 tons of coffee beans and proposed a similar export cut of
300,000 tons by Vietnam and 50,000 tons by India. While India
indicated that it didn't wish to participate, Vietnam remained
non-committal toward the proposal.
The Vietnam Coffee and Cocoa Association, or Vicofa, has
estimated that the upcoming 2002/2003 crop will reach 500,000
tons, compared with the 600,000 tons yielded in the 2001/2002
crop year, due to erratic weather as well as fewer trees, as part
of the government's policy to control robusta output.
The Association of Indonesian Coffee Exporters, or AEKI, has
forecast a crop of 315,000 tons in 2002, down from last year's
350,000 tons.
Vietnam's coffee harvesting season runs from October through
September, while Indonesia's season starts in March and ends in
August or September.
On its enrollment Monday as the 40th member of the
International Coffee Organization 2001 Agreement, Nuril Hakim,
vice chairman of AEKI, said Indonesia hopes to utilize the
benefits from being part of an organization, which aims to
develop a sustainable coffee market.
Indonesia is the world's fourth largest robusta producer, and
Vietnam is the second largest. Together with India, they account
for 22 percent of world coffee production and 45 percent of
robusta output.