Local exporters find exporting tea to Iraq difficult

Officials from the Viet Nam Tea Corporation (Vitas) said local exporters can hardly export tea to Iraq, one of Viet Nam's major tea importers, in the near future due to falling prices.

With prices currently accepted by Iraqi partners, local exporters will suffer losses of about 70 USD per tonne.

At present, Iraqi importers require tea to be packed in aluminium foil sachets with weights from 200gr to 1,000gr. In addition, they buy only small 800 tonne shipments. If they win the bidding, Vietnamese exporters must deliver tea within 60 days. However, Iraq's purchasing prices are lower than material prices in the Vietnamese market.

The first five months of this year saw Viet Nam's tea shipments to Iraq drop by 15 percent, and to China by 10.5 percent, compared to the same period last year.
The country earned 24.5 million USD from tea exports in the year ending in May, a year-on-year decrease of 5.7 percent. (mes)

Source : http://www.vneconomy.com.vn

13 Juli 2005