Recently, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam, in the first half of 2024, Vietnam's exports of agricultural, forestry and aquatic products reached about 29.2 billion USD, up 19% year on year. The 7 products with export value above 1 billion USD include coffee, rubber, rice, vegetables and fruits, cashew nuts, shrimp and wood products.

Although coffee exports declined, with export volume of 902,000 tonnes, down 10.5%, the average export price rose 50.4%, so export value reached 3.22 billion USD, up 34.6%.

However, Vietnam's well-known coffee company Vinacafe issued a financial statement saying that although the company achieved a profit in 2023, this profit was not enough to make up for its accumulated losses of more than 1.09 trillion Vietnamese dong (about 311 million yuan, 42 million USD).

It is understood that Vinacafe was founded in 1995 and is known as the Vietnam National Coffee Corporation. It is Vietnam's largest coffee enterprise, with 65 subsidiaries and 50 coffee-growing farms distributed across Vietnam, engaged in coffee cultivation, processing, transportation and import and export trade. Vinacafe's annual coffee production accounts for 20-25% of Vietnam's total coffee output.

According to Vinacafe's audited consolidated financial statements, the company's revenue reached 2.1 trillion Vietnamese dong in 2023, an increase of 18% compared with the same period in 2022. Its main revenue sources include coffee, rice and rubber, with coffee being the primary source of revenue.

According to the report, in 2023, Vinacafe's total crop area increased by 9%, reaching about 12,458 hectares, and output also rose slightly to more than 29,600 tonnes.However, the report also noted that although output increased, throughout 2023 Vinacafe did not sign any new export contracts, instead focusing on delivering goods under contracts from previous years.

Vinacafe made a total profit of more than 9 billion Vietnamese dong, the first time the company has been profitable since it began publishing information in 2021. In the previous two years, the company's profit was negative by several hundred billion dong. However, as accumulated losses still exceed 1,090 billion Vietnamese dong, the profit is not enough to make up for the losses.

Vinacafe said it is currently in a period of economic difficulty. The company's coffee plantations have been in operation for more than 25 years, and due to their age, productivity and coffee quality are low. In addition, severe weather last year and this year increased costs, while prices of some fertilisers, petrol and other inputs rose due to geopolitical issues, a problem also faced by many traders in Vietnam. Moreover, because international robusta coffee prices are currently high and the Red Sea crisis, many foreign buyers have reduced their purchases of Vietnamese robusta coffee beans.

And earlier this year, Vietnam suffered its worst drought in nearly 10 years, dealing a heavy blow to Vietnam's coffee industry and causing severe reductions in output, and expectations within Vietnam for the next crop season are not ideal. Moreover, according to Vietnam's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, coffee stocks within Vietnam are currently almost zero.

Therefore, Vinacafe is calling on the government to resolve climate issues as soon as possible to ensure coffee output and quality. However, the government is currently planning to invest in a port, with a proposed port in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province in southern Vietnam costing 50.82 trillion Vietnamese dong and covering 50 hectares.

The first phase of the project runs from 2024 to 2030, with investment in the construction of 2 berths capable of accommodating 250,000-tonne vessels. In addition, Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province lies on international shipping routes linking Europe, the Middle East, North Asia and the Americas, and it hopes to build itself into a logistics hub and international transshipment port, which would also benefit the development of multiple industries in Vietnam.