31 Aug 2012 Intellasia Finance Vietnam - Hong Kong Business ...

BUSINESS
Vietnam finance & business 31 August 2012
Vietnam's fertiliser
import from China
increases
200,000 tonnes of
sugar in stock
Vietnam's Trung
Nguyen Eyes Bigger
Expansion
pared with July. Moreover, total import spending will be coming back to the level of
$7 million as in June.
In 8 months, total motorcycle import spending is estimated at 24,300 units, equivalent
to $43 million, down 50.9 percent in quantity and 37.1 percent in value year-on-year.
31/AUG/2012 INTELLASIA | PHAP LUAT TPHCM
The latest statistics from general Department of Vietnam Customs showed that the
amount of imported fertiliser in the first 7 months in 2012 was 1.9 million tonnes, equal
to $864 million, down 10.93 percent in quantity and 2.67 percent in value year-on-year.
In 14 import markets of Vietnam, Malaysia was the one with the highest decreasing
amount while China continued to be the biggest fertiliser supplier in Vietnam with
over one million tonnes worth $420.6 million, up 8.04 percent in quantity and 18.36
percent in value, accounting for 48.2 percent of total import spending.
31/AUG/2012 INTELLASIA | BAO HAU GIANG
Vietnam Sugarcane and Sugar Association (VSSA) said that the total amount of sugar
inventories was about 200,000 tonnes in Vietnam and about 17 million tonnes all over
the world. This number will continue to increase when factories come into 2012 - 2013
new pressing seasons.
Currently, sugar sell price in factories is only about 15,000 dong - 15,700 dong per kilogram,
but it is very difficult to sell due to smuggled sugar from Thailand and neighbouring
countries. Nevertheless, sugar price in the near future is forecast to remain
hard and reach over 16,000 dong/kilogram.
Nguyen Thanh Long, VSSA's President said that: Sugar redundancy led to falling selling
price and a low sugarcane buying price. If sugarcane is bought at the price of 1,000
dong/kilogram, factories will be at risk of break even or at a loss.
In addition, the currently prolonged sugar smuggling situation while the government
still does not have effective solution, raw sugarcane price will not be improved, which
is causing many difficulties for enterprises as well as sugarcane farmers.
31/AUG/2012 INTELLASIA | DOW JONES
Trung Nguyen Coffee Group Corp., Vietnam's biggest coffee processing firm, plans to
invest up to $80 million in expanding its operations in the Central Highlands.
The plan includes a new cultivation model in Eatul area and the construction of a plant
with a daily processing capacity of 300 metric tonnes of instant coffee in Buon Ma
Thuot city, in Dak Lak province, within the next three years, spokeswoman Pham Thi
Diep Giang told Dow Jones Newswires Wednesday.
Demand for processed coffee products locally and overseas is rising rapidly, Group
Chair Dang Le Nguyen Vu told Dow Jones Newswires, adding that the US, South Korea,
Germany and China are the group's top export markets.
Industry data showed that local consumption of roasted and ground coffee products
has risen 22 percent-25 percent so far in 2012, while exports of instant coffee products
have increased more than 20 percent.
Trung Nguyen is also working on a 10-year expansion plan to meet this rising demand,
which includes steps to boost local production and developing a global network of distributors,
Vu said.
"We will upgrade existing facilities and invest $800 million in a new series of processing
plants in Buon Ma Thuot city. Trung Nguyen aims to become the world's biggest
processor of coffee products by 2022," he said.
Trung Nguyen currently operates four plants with a total processing capacity of
120,000 tonnes.
The group will also launch campaigns to boost the average local consumption to 5 kilograms
a year, from around 1 kilogram now.
The group, which runs Vietnam's largest franchise network of coffee shops, plans to
double the number of shops to 100 next year, Giang said.
Intellasia 31 August 2012 31 / 46