Crippling debts and bankruptcies brew Vietnam coffee crisis

http://in.reuters.com/article/2013/08/14/vietnam-coffee-idINL4N0GD0P820130814

Bankruptcies rise under debt mountain, credit squeeze

* Struggling exporters blame banks, high interest rates

* Dealers cite excessive loans, failed futures trading

* Brazil, Indonesia could benefit from Vietnam crisis

By Nguyen Phuong Linh, Ho Binh Minh and Lewa Pardomuan

HO CHI MINH CITY/SINGAPORE, Aug 15 (Reuters) - Desks are empty, the office silence broken only by a handful of staff chit-chatting or playing on cellphones. It's another slow day at the headquarters of Vinacafe, a state-owned firm once the vanguard of Vietnam's coffee export boom.

"There's no one here for you to talk to," a receptionist said when asked who was in charge at the Vietnam National Coffee Corporation in Ho Chi Minh City, the hub of an industry that produces 17 percent of the world coffee output.

The bosses and managers of Vinacafe have either quit or were not at work that day, like most of the 80-plus staff the company says are employed there, according to the company website.