HANOI: Vietnam coffee prices edged up this week as supplies from the 2024/25 crop remained limited, with post-holiday trade still sluggish, traders said on Thursday.

Farmers in the Central Highlands, Vietnam’s largest coffee-growing region, sold beans for 120,000-122,000 dong ($4.73-$4.81) per kg, slightly higher than last week’s 118,700-119,500 dong range.

“The weather has become more favourable for harvesting activities,” said a trader based in the coffee belt. “Supplies may increase ahead of the Lunar New Year.” Traders also offered 5% black and broken-grade 2 robusta at a discount of $100-$150 to the March LIFFE contract. LIFFE robusta coffee for March settled down $63, or 1%, at $4,956 per metric ton as of Wednesday’s close.

“Coffee export volumes from Vietnam are improving significantly month by month. This may temporarily keep coffee prices from skyrocketing in the first quarter of 2025, before potential new tax and trade policies under President Trump,” said Nguyen Ngoc Quynh, deputy head of the Mercantile Exchange of Vietnam.

Vietnam exported 1.34 million metric tons of coffee in 2024, down 17.2% from the previous year, government data showed. Coffee export revenue for the year, however, rose 32.5% to $5.6 billion. In December, Vietnam exported just 126,000 tons of coffee, 39.3% less than a year earlier.

In Indonesia, Sumatra robusta coffee beans were offered at $150 discount to the January LIFFE contract. Beans were also quoted at a $100 discount to the March contract, compared with a $230 discount before the holiday because of a limited availability of coffee beans after the holidays, said a trader in Indonesia.