Asia Coffee: Trading stays subdued in Vietnam, Indonesia due to holidays

HANOI: Coffee trading in Vietnam and Indonesia remained subdued due to year-end holidays, with traders saying unusual rains in Vietnam’s coffee-growing area delaying harvest peak.

Farmers in the Central Highlands, Vietnam’s largest coffee-growing region, sold beans for 118,700-119,500 dong ($4.66-$4.69) per kg, down from last week’s 122,500 dong. “The continuous rainy weather also affects beans quality as they cannot be dried and stored properly,” said a trader based in the coffee belt, adding that some 20% of the beans remained un-picked.

Robusta coffee settled down $46, or 1%, at $4,875 per metric ton on Tuesday, ahead of the holidays. “Vietnamese farmers tend to sell more beans ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday. This year, although the financial pressure is not as high as in previous years, the export volume is expected to improve in the first half of January,” said Nguyen Ngoc Quynh, deputy head of the Mercantile Exchange of Vietnam.

Indonesian markets were closed on Thursday. Sumatra robusta coffee bean exports rose 76.51% in November from a year earlier to 22,880.91 metric tons, local trade office data showed.