Vietnam coffee prices marginally lower as trade seen slow until next harvest

Vietnamese domestic coffee prices were marginally lower on Thursday from a week earlier, with trading activity expected to remain muted until the next harvest that will begin in October.

A woman dries coffee beans on a road in Vietnam's northern province of Son La on October 4, 2011. Photo: Reuters

Farmers in the Central Highlands sold coffee at 34,500-35,000 dong ($1.49-$1.51) per kg on Thursday, compared with 35,000 dong from a week ago.

“There are virtually no transactions now,” said a trader based in the Central Highlands, Vietnam’s largest coffee growing area.

Another trader said the baby cherries of the new harvest are growing well with sufficient rainfall.

Traders in Vietnam offered 5% black and broken grade 2 robusta at a $90 per tonne premium to the September contract.

September robusta coffee settled down $6, or 0.4%, at $1,430 per tonne on Wednesday.

On Wednesday, some coffee producers from around the world met in Brazil to discuss the economic sustainability of coffee production.

Vietnam did not attend the meeting, but Luong Van Tu, chairman of Vietnam Coffee and Cocoa Association, said on Thursday Vietnam supported the idea of forming an association of coffee producers.

“Vietnam proposed the formation of such an association even before 2000 but no progress has been made,” Tu told Reuters. “We still support the idea and are monitoring outcome of the meeting in Brazil.”

Meanwhile, Indonesia’s grade 4 defect 80 robusta beans were offered at $150-$200 premium to the September contract, compared with a $180 premium last week, traders in the Sumatran province of Lampung said.=

They said coffee supplies in Sumatra are rising amid an ongoing harvest, but demand for the beans have not yet picked up.