Vietnam coffee output to rise 7%, U.S. agency says

Coffee production in Vietnam, the world’s largest producer of robusta beans, will climb 7 percent this year amid favorable weather conditions, a unit of the U.S. Department of Agriculture said.

Output will rise to 18.7 million bags in the year that started Oct. 1 from 17.5 million a year earlier, the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service said in a report posted today on its website. Robusta beans comprise 97 percent of production. A bag weighs 132 pounds, or 60 kilograms.

Vietnam’s exports will climb 1.1 percent to 16.8 million bags, the service said. Robusta-coffee futures have jumped 50 percent in London this year on concern that global supplies will trail demand. The contract for March delivery advanced $12, or 0.6 percent, to $1,935 a ton on NYSE Liffe on Dec 16.

Robusta beans, used in instant coffee, are harvested mostly in Asia and parts of Africa.

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