Fresh coffee supply from Vietnam's 2016/2017 harvest is yet to pick up and discounts widened slightly, while Indonesian coffee differentials were little changed against the January contract, traders said on Thursday. The weather remains cloudy in Vietnam's Central Highlands coffee belt this week, with rain still expected late on Thursday, the national weather centre said.
"Rain still lingers, and the harvest is expected to peak from late November," Do Ha Nam, general director of Ho Chi Minh City-based Intimex, told Reuters. Nam is also a deputy chairman of the Vietnam Coffee and Cocoa Association (Vicofa). The firm exported 500,000 tonnes in the 2015/2016 crop year, or far above the 332,000 tonnes exported by rival Indonesia in the whole of 2015, making it the biggest exporter in Vietnam, the world's top robusta producer.
"The volume sold so far is not much, while there is a possibility of defaults in delivery by farmers due to recent price hikes as they have sold at lower prices," Nam said. Robustas stood at 44.5-44.7 million dong ($1,993-$2,002) per tonne on Thursday in Daklak, the country's top growing province, down from 44.6-44.9 million dong on Tuesday.
Nam said many farmers sold their new-crop beans when prices hit 40 million dong a tonne in mid-September. Such defaults on domestic markets are not unusual, but it could potentially hamper exporters' loading before the harvest peak. Earlier Nam said the late harvest peak may reduce supply by January 2017 while Vietnam's 2016/2017 coffee output could drop 10-20 percent.
Vietnamese robusta grade 2 was traded at discounts of $40-$60 a tonne to ICE January contract, from discounts of $50-$60 a tonne earlier this week. The January contract ended up 0.3 percent at $2,164 per tonne on Wednesday. Beans grade 1, similar to Sumatran coffee, stood at a discount of $10 a tonne, from a discount of $5 last Thursday.
In Indonesia, the volume of coffee sold on the market was bought mostly by domestic roasters, while robusta prices rose nearly 6 percent in the past month to 27,000 rupiah ($2.07) per kg after the harvest had ended, traders said. Indonesian robusta grade 4, 80 defects stood at par with ICE January. It was also quoted at a discount of $120/tonne to ICE March contract. Last week the beans were quoted at par to a premium of $5 a tonne to the January contract.