HANOI/BANDAR LAMPUNG: Traders in Vietnam are struggling to buy coffee beans from local farmers as domestic prices have remained low while inventories have begun to decline.
"Farmers are not facing pressure to sell more of their beans now that Tet (Lunar New Year holiday) is over," a trader based in Dak Lak province in the Central Highlands said.
Some farmers in the Central Highlands, Vietnam's key coffee growing area, sold coffee at 32,200-33,400 dong ($1.39-$1.44) per kg on Thursday, down from a range of 32,400-33,600 dong two weeks ago.
"Farmers are complaining that prices are too low," the trader said. "They are asking for at least 34,000 dong per kg."
Another trader also based in the Central Highlands said, however, this did not mean that shipments from Vietnam will significantly fall in February from last month as traders had bought a lot of beans from farmers ahead of the holiday.
"I think exports will be a lot lower in March and April," the second trader said, adding that farmers have already sold around 60 percent of the 2018-19 harvest.
Traders in Vietnam offered 5 percent black and broken grade 2 robusta at a $50 per tonne discount to the March contract, flat from two weeks ago.
In Indonesia, activity remained muted as traders were awaiting output from the next harvest later this year.
A trader in Indonesia's Lampung province in Sumatra said robusta beans were priced around 22,700-23,700 rupiah per kg for May contracts.
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