HANOI/BANDAR LAMPUNG: Coffee trading in Vietnam remained lacklustre ahead of the main harvest expected from mid-November, with traders awaiting new beans coming in bulk in upcoming weeks, traders said on Thursday. Farmers in the Central Highlands, Vietnam's largest coffee-growing area, sold coffee at 33,200 dong ($1.43) per kg, compared with last week's 32,400-34,000 dong range.

"Market is dull due to lower international prices, scarce supplies and adverse weather," said a trader based in the coffee belt. Vietnam's national centre for weather forecasting said the coffee belt regions would mostly be rainy for at least another week, which could hamper farmers' beans picking and drying process.

"If it continues to rain, both beans quality and productivity will be hurt," said another trader, who is also based in the region, adding that new beans would likely to come from the second half of November.

January robusta coffee settled down $14, or 1%, at $1,313 per tonne on Wednesday. Traders in Vietnam offered 5% black and broken grade 2 robusta at premiums of $170-$180 per tonne to the January contract, narrowing from the $170-$200 range last week.