Vietnamese farmers held back from selling coffee beans this week due to low prices, while activity in Indonesia remained tepid due to a lack of supply, traders said on Thursday.
Farmers in the Central Highlands, Vietnam's largest coffee-growing area, sold coffee at 33,000-33,200 dong ($1.42-$1.43), up slightly from a range of 32,300-32,500 dong last week.
The harvest was 40-50% completed as steady sunshine helped the drying process, but low prices have discouraged some farmers from selling beans, traders said. "The prices are still very low, tracking global prices," said a trader based in the region.
"Low prices discouraged some farmers from immediately picking beans from coffee trees. But this would lead to a larger proportion of ripe beans in harvest, ensuring high cup quality," he added. March robusta coffee settled down $26, or 1.8%, at $1,427 per tonne on Wednesday.
Traders in Vietnam offered 5% black and broken grade 2 robusta at a $30-$40 premium per tonne to the March contract on Thursday, compared to the $90-$100 premium to the January contract last week.
Vietnam's coffee exports in the first 11 months of 2019 fell 15%, from a year earlier, to about 1.47 million tonnes, customs data released on Wednesday showed.
Meanwhile, Indonesia's grade 4 defect 80 robusta beans were offered at premiums of $220 to the March contract this week, compared to a $200 premium to the January contract last week, a trader in Sumatra's Lampung province said. Trade activities however remain muted as traders now await new supply from the next harvest.
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