Coffee sales in Vietnam slowed in the past week as farmers held back fresh beans from the ongoing harvest to put pressure on domestic prices, dealers said on Tuesday. Quotations for robusta beans in Buon Ma Thuot, the capital of top coffee-growing province of Daklak, extended last week's losses to 23,500 dong ($1.32) per kg, down nearly 1,000 dong per kg from last Tuesday and 2,000 dong from two weeks ago, traders in Buon Ma Thuot said.
"On Tuesday local prices, at about $1.27 per kg, were higher than international prices and that put a lid on exports because there would be no profit at all for exporters," a trader in Buon Ma Thuot said. He said export prices were quoted for reference only at $1,270 a tonne, free-on-board basis.
On Monday, London January robusta coffee ended up $33 at $1,339 a tonne, buoyed by a surge in ICE arabicas and a weak dollar. Vietnam's coffee harvest started in late September but the process was briefly disrupted by rains. Farmers are now accelerating cherry picking and the harvest often reaches full swing by late November, traders said.
A Vietnam Coffee and Cocoa Association meeting earlier this month projected the ongoing 2009-2010 harvest could produce 1.046 million tonnes, or 17.4 million bags, up slightly from a previous forecast of up to 17 million bags. The association's crop projections are often regarded as underestimates in an attempt to shore up prices.
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