HANOI: Vietnam coffee prices were little changed from a week earlier as fresh beans have not yet entered the market in large volumes, while recent rainfall in the Central Highlands is not expected to disrupt harvesting, traders said on Thursday.
Farmers in the Central Highlands, Vietnam’s coffee belt, sold beans at 83,200 dong to 83,800 dong (USD3.24 to USD3.26) per kg, compared with the 83,000 dong to 84,000 dong range last week.
January robusta coffee futures settled down USD5, at USD3,245 a metric ton on Wednesday.
“Farmers have started harvesting, but the pace is still very slow and coffee supplies remain limited. We probably won’t see significant volumes reaching the market until next month,” said a trader based in the coffee belt.
“Coffee-growing areas have seen only light rain, which has not disrupted harvesting,” the trader added. Heavy rainfall since the start of the week has caused floods and damage in central Vietnam, but traders said the Central Highlands coffee belt has so far escaped any significant impact.
Traders offered 5 percent black and broken-grade 2 robusta at a premium of USD40 to USD50 per ton to the spot contract, and at a discount of USD50 to deliveries in January. In Indonesia, Sumatra robusta coffee beans were offered at a premium of USD200 to USD300 to the December contract, a trader said. Another trader quoted a USD300 premium to the November contract, unchanged from last week.