Asia coffee: Vietnam domestic prices edge down; Indonesian discount narrows

HANOI: Coffee bean prices in Vietnam on Thursday were down slightly from a week earlier, with the Indonesian discount narrowing on London price strength and tight supplies, traders said on Thursday.

Farmers in the Central Highlands, Vietnam’s largest coffee-growing region, sold beans at 130,000-130,500 dong ($5.00-$5.02) on Thursday, down from 132,700-133,700 dong a week earlier. “The slight fall in domestic prices doesn’t fully reflect the global market situation, but it shows that some farmers are under pressure to sell for cash to take care of their farms,” a trader based in the Central Highlands said.

“Farmers are still holding around 40% of their 2024-2025 harvest.” The trader, however, said that prices are unlikely to fall further in the short term because most farmers are holding on to their beans to wait for higher prices. LIFFE Robusta coffee fell 0.9% to $5,314 a ton by 1010 GMT.

In Indonesia, Sumatra robusta coffee beans were offered at a $120 discount to the May contract, narrowing from a $150-$160 discount last week, one trader said, adding that the change was on the back of London price strength a “scarcity of beans”.