Indonesian coffee exporters offered lower discounts this week on easing supplies after falling prices prompted farmers to hold stocks and as the main harvest draws to a close, dealers said on Friday. Indonesian exporters offered a discount of $150 a tonne under November contract at London robusta futures on Friday.
The discount priced Indonesian export-grade robusta grade 4, maximum 80 defects, at $2,123 a tonne free on board Panjang port. "Shippers offered less discounts because coffee bean supplies started easing as the main harvest has nearly ended," said a dealer in a foreign exporting firm in Bandar Lampung, the key port for exports of robusta coffee in Sumatra island.
The dealer said buyers wanted to buy coffee beans at a discount of between $180-$190 a tonne for delivery in November. The provinces of Lampung, South Sumatra, and Bengkulu in the southern part of Sumatra island account for three-quarters of total coffee output from Indonesia, the world's fourth-largest coffee producer.
Arrivals of coffee beans in Bandar Lampung, the capital of Lampung province and the key port for robusta coffee exports, slowed this week as the main harvest draws to an end and farmers are holding stocks, waiting for prices to rebound.
Farmers and merchants delivered between 800-1,200 tonnes of robusta coffee beans a day - used for instant coffee - from plantations to Bandar Lampung this week, compared to 2,000-3,000 tonnes a day early this month. "Local prices have been easing in the past week, taking cues from robusta futures. So farmers are not that interested in selling their beans yet," said another dealer in Bandar Lampung.