Asia Coffee-Flat in muted trade in Vietnam, Indonesia

HANOI/BANDAR LAMPUNG: Coffee trading in both Vietnam and Indonesia remained muted for the week, as Vietnamese farmers were in no hurry to sell their coffee beans, while the new stock's arrival was still a few months away in Indonesia.

Farmers in the Central Highlands, Vietnam's largest coffee growing area, sold their beans at 34,000 dong-34,300 dong ($1.47-$1.48) per kg on Thursday, compared with 32,400 dong-33,300 dong a week earlier, a Ho Chi Minh City-based trader said.

The trader said Vietnamese farmers could "afford to wait for months more" before selling their beans because they are still flush in cash after the sales last month.

Traders in Vietnam offered 5 percent black and broken grade 2 robusta at a $20 per tonne discount to the May contract.

Coffee exports from Vietnam is likely to fall by an estimated 19.6 percent in January-February from a year earlier to 284,000 tonnes, equal to 4.73 million 60-kg bags, the General Statistics Office said in a report on Thursday.

Coffee export revenue for Vietnam, the world's biggest producer of the robusta bean, will likely decline by 26.9 percent to $500 million in the two-month period, the report said. The country's coffee shipments in February are estimated at 100,000 tonnes and valued at $175 million.

Meanwhile, the trade in Indonesia remained subdued as next harvest period is still a few months away.

Sumatra's main harvest typically starts around mid-year but some area in southern region of the island are expected to have a mini harvest around April.

The grade 4 defect 80 robusta was priced at a $70-$80 premium to the May contract, similar compared to a week earlier as both supply and demand were weak, a trader in Lampung province of Sumatra island said.

Another trader said the coffee beans were sold at $160-$170 premium to the May contract, higher compared to $130 premium a week earlier.