Nikkei Asian Review: VN now Japan's top coffee supplier, fueled by COVID

Viet Nam is the top seller of unroasted beans to Japan for the first seven months of the year

The article said that Viet Nam was the top seller of unroasted beans to Japan for the first seven months of the year, according to trade data. A total of 67,392 tons of unroasted beans were imported from the Southeast Asian country during the period, up 26% on the year.

Imports from Viet Nam outpaced those from Brazil, which had long been the No. 1 supplier, for the first time. Viet Nam is on track to top Brazil for the entire year, said Shiro Ozawa, an adviser with Tokyo-based specialty coffee trader Wataru & Co. "This is a historic moment."

Coffee exports from Viet Nam dropped an estimated 1.3% in the first eight months on the year to 1.16 million tons, or 19.3 million 60-kg bags, the General Statistics Office (GSO) said.

Coffee export revenue for Viet Nam, the world's biggest producer of the robusta bean, saw a year-on-year decrease of 0.2% at US$1.98 billion in the eight-month period.

Its August coffee shipments are estimated at 110,000 tons, valued at US$197 million.

By Thuy Dung