A small harvest in Indonesia dragged prices of coffee beans down, while the market in Vietnam remained quiet amid low supply and thin stockpile, traders said on Thursday. Traders in Indonesia quoted robusta grade 4, 80 defects at a discount of $25 a tonne to the London's ICE May contract, wider than last week's discount of $5-$10, as a small harvest boosted supply.
"Local trade is good and picking up (in volume)," said a trader, adding that exports are light amid price uncertainties in the global commodities market. In Vietnam, the world's second largest coffee exporter, farmers raised local prices to 47,300-48,000 dong ($2.08-$2.11)per kg in Daklak province, the country's major coffee grower, due to thin stockpile, traders said.
Exporters only buy from farmers to complete their previously signed contracts while demand from global importers for Vietnamese beans was lower as they eyed harvests in Indonesia and Brazil, said Phan Hung Anh, Deputy Director of Daklak-based Anh Minh Company. Indonesia's coffee exports volume in February jumped 45 percent annually, following a rise of 37 percent a month earlier, official statistics showed.
Meanwhile, Vietnam's coffee exports volume in the first quarter of this year is estimated to fall 1.6 percent from a year earlier to 467,000 tonnes (7.8 million 60-kg bags), while traders see April exports to fall to 100,000-130,000 tonnes. Traders in Vietnam quoted 5-pct black and broken grade 2 robusta at $20-$30 a tonne below the London ICE July contract, compared to last week's discounts of $35-$50 below the May contract. "It's hard to strike a deal at this price; buyers say it's still expensive. There must be a jump in London prices for the Vietnamese market to be robust again," said a Ho Chi Minh City-based trader.
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