HANOI: Domestic coffee prices in Vietnam inched higher this week as tight farmer selling and steady demand kept supplies thin, while Indonesia’s market saw mixed differentials due to similarly limited bean availability, traders said on Thursday.
In the Central Highlands, farmers sold beans at 101,200 dong to 102,300 dong (USD3.88 to USD3.93) per kg, higher than last week’s range of 99,500 dong to 100,200 dong. “Supply is tight at the moment. It’s not that the crop was bad, farmers are simply selling strategically,” one trader said. Vietnam exported 89,000 metric tons of coffee in the first 15 days of this year, an annual increase of 20.6percent, customs data showed.
Another trader said both the volume and size of sealed contracts remained small as buyers and sellers acted cautiously. Robusta coffee for May delivery settled down USD119 at USD4,073, as of Wednesday’s close.
In Indonesia, traders offered 5percent black and broken-grade 2 robusta at a discount of USD90 to USD133 per ton to the May LIFFE contract, according to one trader.
To the March contract, the beans were offered at USD185 premium the trader added, down from USD200 premium to the same contract last week, due to limited supply. Another trader said the premium to the May contract was at USD200. Last week the premium to the March contract was also at the level. Coffee farmers in West Lampung said the beans at the moment were quite large and they started to pick some beans.
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