Vietnamese coffee prices dipped in a quiet market amid the holiday season, while traders were concerned over bean quality due to rain earlier this month, traders said on Tuesday. Prolonged rain in Vietnam's Central Highlands coffee belt earlier this month disrupted the harvest and outdoor drying season, hurting the quality of the country's coffee beans.
"The number of defective beans this year doubled (from) last year," said Le Duc Huy, deputy general director of Simexco, a major export firm in Daklak, the country's top coffee growing province, adding bean quality this year was worrying. Though the weather has seen some improvement with no rain, it's not yet the best time for crop harvesting.
"Rain stopped but it's still cloudy, which slowed the drying process," Phan Hung Anh, the deputy director of Daklak-based Anh Minh Co told Reuters. Local prices dropped to 44,000-44,400 dong ($1.93-$1.95) per kg on Tuesday, from 44,900-45,400 dong a weak ago. Traders quoted robusta grade 2, 5 pct black and broken at $60-$70/tonne discounts to the ICE March contract, narrowing from last week. The March contract rose 1.2 percent to $2,089 per tonne on Friday. The international market was quiet with very few transactions due to Christmas and upcoming New Year holidays, traders said.
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