HANOI/BANDAR LAMPUNG: Coffee trading continued on a sluggish note this week in Vietnam due to a shortage of beans, with traders awaiting the new crop season that begins next month. Farmers in the Central Highlands, Vietnam's largest coffee-growing area, sold coffee at 34,200-34,500 dong ($1.47-$1.49) per kg, compared to the 34,000-34,500 dong range a week earlier.

"Both demand and supply are very weak," said a trader based in the Central Highlands. "Edging close to the new crop season, traders tend to wait for new beans, while farmers' stockpile has run empty."

November robusta coffee settled up $1, or 0.07%, at $1,392 per tonne on Wednesday. Another trader also based in the region said the scarcity would keep domestic prices at this level despite lower London prices.

Traders in Vietnam offered 5% black and broken grade 2 robusta at a premium of $70-80 per tonne to the November contract, unchanged from a week ago. Vietnam exported 100,188 metric tonnes of coffee in August, down 8.9% from July, government data released on Monday showed.

In Indonesia's Lampung province, Sumatran robusta beans premiums were unchanged at $20-$50 to the November contract one exporter said, while another trader said premiums increased to $160 from around $150 last week.