Increasing market boosts Laos coffee exports
Increasing market boosts Laos coffee exports
The number of Lao coffee beans exported overseas this year is expected to be higher than last year as the market for coffee continues to expand.
Last year, the country exported more than 30,000 tonnes of coffee beans, worth almost US$73 million and in January this year exported almost 2,000 tonnes, worth about US$3.7 million, according to the Lao Coffee Association.
In previous years, coffee traders would buy coffee solely to supply domestic processing companies as they didn't have other markets to supply, but in recent years merchants have found more export destinations for their product and are still looking for new markets.
Coffee plantations in the south average around 78 hectares in , with most crops planted on the Boloven Plateau in Pakxong district, Champassak province, Thataeng in Xekong province and Laungam in Saravan province.
In 2011, Laos received income of US$63 million from coffee bean exports and this increased to US$66.4 million in 2012, the association officer reported.
This commercial crop has created permanent jobs for about 20,000 farming families and 300,000 indirect labourers.
Lao people have a long tradition of growing coffee and the government is promoting this crop as one of the country's most prominent products.
The government recently approved a coffee strategy from now to 2025 for coffee, to improve product quality and marketing, thereby adding value, increasing profits and improving sustainability.
This strategy is focusing on improving the quality of coffee plantations, meaning an update in planting techniques and processing.
The production demand from local traders is high and there has been very strong competition between buyers in the recent years. In the short term, this competition may be profitable for producers.
Recent growth and investment in the coffee sector has been driven by high coffee prices on the international market.
One of the challenges that might be faced by the sector will be to sustain the profitability and competitiveness of the Lao coffee industry in a context of lower prices.
Farmers are currently selling their coffee bean for the low price of about 12,000 kip a kg, while it's trading at the shipping ports for around US$2,000-US$2,500 a tonne, the Champassak provincial Industry and Commerce Department Official, Mr Vilaysone Keolasy told Vientiane Times yesterday.
vientiane times
