Trade was slow across major Asian coffee exporting nations as Indonesian traders held back beans amid falling prices while supply in Vietnam tightened towards the end of its crop season, traders said on Thursday. A fall in the London ICE September contract dragged down local coffee prices in Vietnam, the world's largest robusta producer, to 44,500-45,500 dong ($1.96-$2.00) per kg, from 46,000-46,500 dong a week earlier, traders said.
The contract fell to a two-week low on Tuesday at $2,069 per tonne, but edged up slightly to close at $2,097 per tonne on Wednesday, Thomson Reuters data showed. Vietnamese exporters offered the 5-percent black and broken grade 2 robusta at a $10-per-tonne discount to the September contract, narrowing slightly from a $20 discount last week, but few deals were struck as good beans were scarce and importers were not keen at such prices, traders said. Traders expect coffee exports this month at 100,000-125,000 tonnes (1.67-2.08 million 60-kg bags). Vietnam exported 981,000 tonnes of coffee in the first half of 2017, up 18 percent from the same period last year, government data showed.
In Indonesia, traders quoted the robusta grade 4, 80 defects at a discount of $50 per tonne to the London September contract, narrowing from a $60 discount last week as traders held back beans, in hopes of higher prices. "Supply from farmers is not abundant. The middlemen are waiting for prices to improve," said a trader. Traders are not as busy selling coffee as they were before a major holiday last month as they are not particularly in need of money now, another trader said.