Vietnam’s domestic coffee prices fall amid slow trade, thin demand

HANOI: Vietnam’s domestic coffee prices edged lower this week on softer demand as buyers turned to Indonesia for fresher and cheaper beans, traders said on Thursday.

Farmers in the Central Highlands, Vietnam’s coffee belt, sold beans at 90,500 dong to 91,000 dong (USD3.44 to USD3.45) per kg, down from last week’s 92,200 dong to 93,200 dong. Robusta coffee for July delivery settled up USD23, or 1percent, at USD3,428 a ton on Wednesday.

“Some farmers are asking for as much as 95,000 dong per kg, prompting many buyers to turn to Indonesia as new supplies from a mini harvest there arrive at more reasonable prices,” said a trader based in the coffee belt.

Another trader said a possible fertiliser shortage is not an immediate concern for coffee growers at the moment, but could emerge in the next two months if the Iran war drags on, just as farmers need fertilisers to boost cherry development. In Indonesia, Sumatra robusta coffee beans were offered at a USD175 premium to the May contract, down from a USD205 premium a week ago, a trader said.

Another trader said beans were offered at a USD170 premium to the July contract, up from a USD110 premium last week.

A coffee farmer in western Lampung said plantations have been seeing rainfall every two to three days. Indonesia’s exports of Sumatra robusta coffee beans dropped to 12,920.7 metric tons in February, a 25.4 percent decrease from a year earlier, local trade office data showed.