HANOI/BANDAR LAMPUNG, INDONESIA: Domestic coffee prices in Vietnam fell slightly on Thursday from a week ago, driven by weak demand and a strong US dollar, traders said. Farmers in the Central Highlands, Vietnam’s largest coffee-growing area, sold coffee at 39,000-40,000 dong ($1.7-$1.74) per kg, down from last week’s 40,300-41,000 dong range.

The July robusta coffee fell $22, or 1.1%, to $2,032 per tonne on Wednesday. “Global demand remains weak, while a strong US dollar has prompted farmers in Brazil to boost their sales,” a trader based in the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak said. “A recent forecast by Citigroup about a global coffee surplus of 3.5 million bags for the 2022/23 crop year has also hurt prices,” the trader added. Traders in Vietnam offered 5% black and broken-grade 2 robusta at a discount of $200-$220 per tonne, compared with $220 a week ago. Traders said domestic supplies are running low, as farmers have sold around 85% of their 2021/22 beans.

“Farmers are cutting down on fertilising and watering their farms due to a surge in prices for fuels and fertilisers,” the trader said. “Prices of some types of fertilisers have more than doubled recently,” the trader added, referring to the supply crunch caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which is a major producer of fertilisers.

In Indonesia, Sumatran robusta was offered with $170 discount to June contract and $220 discount to July contract, unchanged from last week, traders in Lampung province said. “There are quite a lot of beans because of the mini harvest and because farmers just wanted to sell quickly to get cash for the upcoming holidays,” another trader said, referring to the Islamic Eid al-Fitr holidays next week.