Vietnamese exporters may delay some robusta shipments as farmers hold on to their beans with domestic prices remaining higher than export prices, traders said on Thursday. Farmers in Vietnam, the world's largest robusta producer, have picked between half and 65 percent of their crop in key areas in the Central Highlands coffee belt and will end the cherry picking process in January.
But with domestic prices above export prices and farmers slowing sales as London's robusta futures market has lost ground, exporters are finding it tough to secure beans, traders said. "Exporters may face difficulties to buy on domestic markets now as prices are high," a trader at a European firm in Ho Chi Minh City said.
Robusta rose to 39.2-39.4 million dong ($1,865-$1,875) a tonne in Vietnam's Central Highlands on Thursday, from 39.0-39.2 million dong on Tuesday. Thursday's prices, easing from a record high of 51.9 million dong in May, are still 10 percent above a year ago. Farmers have better finance this year thanks to the price rise, a reason to make them hold back on stocks, traders said.
Vietnam bucked global markets where prices fell on Wednesday, with arabica settling at a one-year low as long liquidation hit the commodity complex pressured by the US dollar and European debt crisis worries. The domestic prices placed Vietnam's robusta grade two, 5 percent black and broken at $1,910-$1,920 a tonne, free-on-board (FOB) basis, against $1,893-$1,933 last week. Exporters wanted to sell at premiums of $40-$70 a tonne to the March contract, widening from $20 last week, while bids were at discounts of $30-$50.
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