Asia Coffee: Vietnam market tepid, discounts unchanged in Indonesia

HANOI/BANDAR LAMPUNG: Trading activity in Vietnam has been slow this week on low stocks, thin demand and lower global prices, traders said on Thursday, while discounts in Indonesia remained unchanged on scarce supplies ahead of a mini harvest.

Farmers in the Central Highlands, Vietnam’s largest coffee-growing area, sold coffee at 41,200-42,400 dong ($1.80-$1.85) per kg, higher than the 40,200-42,000 dong range last week.

“Supplies are running low so trade activities are not so robust. Farmers have sold around 80-90% of their beans,” said a trader based in the coffee belt.

The London ICE May contract settled down $31, or 1%, at $2,139 per tonne on Wednesday. Another trader said coffee cherries had started to appear, however, rising fertilizer prices and fertilizer shortage may hurt trees’ growth and the quality of beans. Indonesia’s Sumatran robusta beans were offered at $150 discount to the April-May contract, a trader in Lampung province said, while another offered a $200 discount to the May contract. Both were unchanged from last week. A trader based in the region said a mini harvest had taken place in Lampung, although so far only some areas in the western region of the province were seen raising supplies. “New beans are still scare as the mini harvest is not evenly spread yet,” the trader said. Some farmers in the region said they had struggled with heavy rain in the past three months which caused coffee cherries to fall off the trees before their maturity.