Asian Coffee Prices Up;Farmers In Vietnam Await Further Gains

Coffee prices in Asia rose in the week to Friday, but traders said the gains weren’t enough to attract farmers in Vietnam to sell actively amid the harvest.

“Traders narrowed the cash discounts and Liffe prices also gained, but farmers were looking at an even higher price,” said a trader at an agricultural commodities trading house.

Cash discounts for the new crop narrowed further this week to around $20 a metric ton against the Euronext.liffe January contract from $50/ton a week ago.

The benchmark January contract settled at $1,327/ton Thursday, up from $1,313/ton a week earlier.

“Farmers are very busy with the harvest right now, but you can’t see many beans on the market. Trading is still very quiet,” said the trader.

Vietnam, Asia’s largest coffee exporter, started its 2009-10 crop harvest last month, and it’s peaking in the second half of November.

Farmers were saying that output this year could be 20% lower than last year, but that could be because they hoped to boost prices, said market participants.

A clearer picture of the total production and bean quality will be revealed in December, they added.

Local prices were quoted steady from a week ago at VND24,000 a kilogram.

In Indonesia, exporters continued seeking beans from Vietnam to cover their short positions, traders said.

“Farmers still have some (stocks), but local prices are very high, so many exporters chose to go to Vietnam to get the beans,” said an executive at a commodities trading firm.

Cash premiums were quoted at $120-$130/ton this week against the Liffe March contract, but without bids.

In India, another major Asian producer, old crop robusta cherry AB beans were traded steady at INR78/kg.

New arabica beans for January shipment were quoted at 15 points over the ICE March futures contract, up from 13 points a week earlier. (Dow Jones)

Tags: Vietnam business news, Vietnam coffee market