Winning big contracts, record high prices, stocks running low, and rejecting additional orders... these are some of the headlines when talking about Vietnam's four billion-dollar seeds. All four of these seeds are among the top in the world in terms of export volume.

"This year, we plan to stop exporting early because we have run out of coffee. This is unprecedented," said Thai Nhu Hiep, Director of Vinh Hiep Co., Ltd. (a leading green coffee bean exporter in the country), when discussing the global coffee frenzy.

These days, the price of unprocessed coffee beans in the domestic market has risen to a record high of 107,000 VND/kg. Meanwhile, international importers are still flocking to Vietnam in search of supplies. Our country is the second-largest coffee supplier in the world, only after Brazil. For Robusta coffee, Vietnam holds the number one position globally.

According to Mr. Hiep, in previous years, the company's stock was sufficient to sell until the end of the season, around August or September. However, this year, the stock is only enough to sell until around May, while the next coffee harvest won't be until October.

Vietnam has strengths in agricultural production and export, with four types of seeds ranking among the top in the world. Besides coffee, Vietnam has also led the world in the production and export of pepper for more than 20 years, accounting for 40% of the harvest volume and 60% of the global export market share.

In recent months, pepper prices have also entered an upward cycle. Currently, the price of this seed, known as Vietnam's "black gold," has reached 91,000-95,000 VND/kg and is forecasted to enter a new golden cycle, reclaiming the 1 billion USD export mark.

Similarly, Vietnam has held the number one position in the world for processed cashew nut exports for 17 consecutive years. Rice, known as our country's "pearl," has consistently been in the top three largest rice-exporting countries in the world for many years.

These are also the types of seeds that bring in billions of dollars for Vietnam. Specifically, rice exports in 2023 reached 4.68 billion USD, cashews reached 3.64 billion USD, coffee and pepper respectively reached 4.24 billion USD and 910 million USD.

Preliminary statistics from the General Department of Customs show that in the first quarter of 2024, coffee exports brought in 1.93 billion USD, a strong increase of 56.7% compared to the same period last year. Coffee also rose to the third position among agricultural commodities with large export turnover, only behind forestry products and seafood.

Rice exports reached 1.43 billion USD in the first quarter of this year, up 45.6% compared to the same period last year. Cashew nuts also reached 809 million USD, up 24.6%; pepper exports brought in 236 million USD, a slight increase of 1.1% compared to the same period last year.

In the past first quarter, except for cashew nuts, the export prices of other types of seeds all increased sharply and reached peaks. Specifically, the average export price of rice reached 661 USD/ton, up 5% compared to the same period in 2023; pepper was 4,153 USD/ton, up 35.6%; coffee prices also surged by 43.5% to 3,181 USD/ton.

With the current growth rate, this group of seeds from Vietnam is expected to set export records this year. In particular, rice and coffee are forecasted to bring in 5.3 billion USD and 5 billion USD respectively in 2024.

The El Nino phenomenon continues to affect the global supply of rice and coffee, while the demand for these commodities is rising. Additionally, geopolitical conflicts and tensions in the Red Sea are also pushing these commodity prices to new heights.

In fact, Vietnam's rice export volume increased significantly in the past first quarter. Notably, Vietnamese enterprises continuously won rice contracts from traditional importers.

Most recently, Indonesia's national logistics agency (Bulog) announced that it had finalized a contract for 300,000 tons of rice with suppliers. Of this, Vietnamese enterprises won a bid for 108,000 tons of rice. Earlier, Bulog announced a list of winning bids for importing 500,000 tons of rice for the country, with 7 Vietnamese enterprises winning 10 out of 17 packages.

Similarly, coffee exporters believe that Vietnam's Robusta coffee holds a relatively firm and irreplaceable position in the world market. Despite the supply shortage, Vietnam's coffee beans are still sought after by foreign roasters, who prefer to wait rather than seek new suppliers.

In particular, the demand for imports from Europe is very high, and the supply is almost entirely from Vietnam's Robusta coffee, at least until the end of April 2024. This will provide a basis and room for export coffee prices to continue to rise.

According to Mr. Doan Huu Tue, General Director of My Viet International Group JSC - a producer and exporter of instant coffee - many importers worldwide have expressed their interest in buying coffee at this time. However, for orders of 600-700 tons of green coffee, the company can hardly accept them because it is very difficult to gather enough goods as the supply from farmers has dried up.

Source: Vietstock