HANOI/BANDAR (LAMPUNG): Vietnam’s domestic coffee prices edged up on Thursday from a week earlier on tight domestic supplies, traders said. Farmers in the Central Highlands, Vietnam’s largest coffee-growing area, sold coffee at 44,000-44,500 dong ($1.88-$1.90) per kg, up from a 41,800-42,300 dong range a week earlier.

“Domestic supplies are running low and traders are finding it hard to secure sufficient beans to meet their export contracts,” a trader based in the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak said.

A weaker local currency against the US dollar is also encouraging traders to boost their exports, the trader added. September robusta coffee rose $27, or 1.4%, to $1,981 a tonne.

“Domestic supplies won’t improve until November or December this year when the new harvest in Vietnam begins, and I think prices won’t ease until then, regardless of international prices,” another trader in Dak Lak said.

In Indonesia’s Lampung province, one trader offered $90-$100 discount to the September contract for Sumatran robusta beans this week, unchanged from last week.

Another trader offered $150 discount to the September contract this week, compared with a $170 discount last week. The trader said supplies in Bandar Lampung also began to decline.