Trade in Vietnam's robusta coffee has been slowing as farmers are holding on to stocks and prohibitively high prices deterred importers from concluding deals, traders said on Tuesday. November robusta coffee on ICE had risen 5.63 percent late last week before dropping nearly 3 percent to $1,548 a tonne on Monday. Vietnamese robusta, the variety typically used in instant coffee, was in line with London prices, edging up to 35,000-36,200 dong ($1.56-$1.61) per kg, from 34,700-35,000 dong a week ago.
"Farmers don't want to sell since they are waiting for prices to jump further," said Van Thanh Huy, chairman of exporter Inexim Daklak. "They also don't care much for the next crop, which may lead to a fall in output." Vietnam, the world's largest robusta producer, has begun offering robusta beans from the next 2015/2016 crop starting October at premiums to London's futures contracts for loading between November 2015 and January 2016.
Premiums of Vietnamese robusta grade 2, 5 percent black and broken from the current 2014/2015 crop widened to $60-$80 a tonne to the November contract, from $70-$80 a tonne last Thursday. "Importers do not rush to buy since Vietnam's (robusta) prices are still high compared with other countries," said Nguyen Quang Binh, an independent analyst. Fresh beans are offered at premiums of $20-$80 a tonne to ICE January. A year ago, exporters offered beans from the new crop at discounts of $30 a tonne to London's January contract. Vietnam's coffee exports in September could reach an estimated 90,000 tonnes, or 1.5 million bags, down 7.5 percent from a year ago, the government said on Tuesday, in line with market expectations.