Vietnam Coffee-Cocoa Association (Vicofa) on Friday asked the Government for permission to stockpile 200,000-300,000 tons of coffee to prevent coffee price from falling further, after price of coffee bean plunged to VND30,000 per kilo--the lowest in past three years, at the beginning of the crop season.
Vicofa also asked the Government for an immediate change in Value Added Tax policy to prevent fraud, and also suggested that coffee exporters balance the export volume of coffee every month and not sell coffee heavily at the beginning of the crop.
During the 2012-2013 coffee crop season from October 2012 to September 2013, the country exported 1.4 million tons of coffee, bringing in US$3.03 billion, a slight drop in both volume and value compared to the previous crop.
The only saving grace for the coffee industry is that domestic coffee consumption has edged upto 7 percent of total production. Total capacity of instant coffee plant has touched 90,000 tons per year. By 2015, capacity is expected to reach 164,000 tons per annum, accounting for 15 percent of production.
