Coffee prices in Vietnam hit their highest level in nearly two years this week before dipping slightly on Tuesday, although sales remained thin, traders said. Robusta coffee hit a 21-month high in London in Monday's trade at $1,843 before falling back to close at $1,793 a tonne on Liffe.
In Vietnam's central highlands provinces, coffee prices followed the rally from the end of last week. Prices hit 30,000 dong ($1.57) on Friday in the top growing province of Daklak, up 2 percent from last Tuesday, and edged up to 31,500 dong on Monday.
In the neighbouring provinces of Lam Dong and Dak Nong, beans were traded at 30,600-30,700 dong on the same day, said the Daklak Trade, Investment and Tourism Promotion Centre. But prices fell back to around 30,000 ($1.57) per kg on Tuesday in Daklak, still up from 29,300-29,700 dong a week ago. "Prices in Vietnam are now following movements on world markets," said a trader in Ho Chi Minh City.
But market activity is limited, traders said, as stocks are thin and buyers have became more cautious about risks at the end of the crop season. Several buyers had ceased purchasing altogether, they said. Exporters offered Vietnamese robusta grade 2, 5 percent black and broken for the September contract at a discount of $125-$135 per tonne, traders said.
Their quotations put the commodity at $1,658-1,668 a tonne, free on board, up from $1,613-$1,633 last Tuesday. The Vietnam Coffee and Cocoa Association has asked the government to allow businesses to stockpile around 200,000 tonnes of coffee for six or nine months from October, a state-run newspaper said last week.