RI coffee sales steady as roasters mark time<\/p>\n
SINGAPORE (Reuter): Indonesian coffee sales are steady,
\nalthough roasters had slowed down the pace of their buying,
\ndealers said yesterday.<\/p>\n
"The Western roasters are holding off a bit. The supply from
\nIndonesia is fairly steady although the offtake is not very
\nfast," a dealer for a Singapore-based trading house said.<\/p>\n
A trader for a European trading company said Indonesian coffee
\nexporters "sold quite a lot the past few weeks, but I don't see
\nmuch physical business being done now. The market's slowed down."<\/p>\n
Traders said about 110,000-115,000 tons of coffee from
\nIndonesia had been sold or committed, although one senior dealer
\nsaid the amount was probably more than 200,000 tons.<\/p>\n
"Most of the crop has already been sold through July," he
\nsaid. Total exports of coffee this year will probably be between
\n230,000 and 270,000 tons, traders said.<\/p>\n
"We got quite a lot of coffee out," one dealer said.
\nIndonesia's key Grade 4 coffee, 80 defects, was seen by the trade
\nat around US$1,345-$1,400 a ton FOB Lampung against the previous
\nweek's $1,400-$1,450 a ton on the same basis.<\/p>\n
The trade was still divided about the extent of any fall in
\nIndonesia's coffee harvest. Most dealers estimate the crop will
\nfall by 20-25 percent.<\/p>\n
But one senior trader dismissed Indonesian claims coffee
\nexports will fall by up to 30 percent after heavy rains and
\nstrong winds pounded coffee farms on Sumatra.<\/p>\n
"I don't think it's going to be really down. If there was a
\nreal problem, you'd see London futures fly out," he said.<\/p>\n
Indonesia is the world's biggest producer of robusta beans and
\nranks behind Brazil and Colombia as the third largest producer of
\ncoffee.<\/p>\n
Dealers said Vietnamese exporters were continuing to hang on
\nto about 50,000 tons of robusta coffee left over from their
\nrecent harvest.<\/p>\n
"The Vietnamese are very canny about this. I remember they
\ntripled the price of the coffee they sold a few years back when
\nthe Brazilian harvest was hit by frost. They're hoping it would
\nhappen again this year," one trader said.<\/p>\n
The price of Vietnam's Grade 2 coffee, 8.0 percent black and
\nbroken, was seen by the trade slightly easier at $1,300-$1,400 a
\nton FOB Saigon against last week's $1,350-$1,400 a ton on the
\nsame basis.<\/p>\n
London robusta prices are seen opening up to $10 higher. One
\ndealer said the LIFFE July futures contract should hover between
\n$1,550-$1,700 a ton over the next few weeks.<\/p>\n
"London is not doing a lot, but it should open slightly
\nhigher," a dealer said.<\/p>\n
Trading in the robusta coffee contract on the Singapore
\nCommodity Exchange (SICOM) was a meager 415 lots on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
SICOM said 405 lots of the September contract settled at
\n$1,470 a ton while the remaining 10 lots of the July contract
\nfinished at $1,477 a ton.<\/p>\n
Table: SOUTHEAST ASIAN COFFEE PRICES (US$ a ton)<\/p>\n
April 30 April 23
\n Indonesia - Grade 4 FOB Lampung US$1,350\/400 $1,400\/450
\n Vietnam - Grade 2 FOB Saigon 1,300\/400 1,350\/400
\n Thailand - Robusta FAQ\/FOB Bangkok 1,375\/450 1,500\/540
\n Papua New Guinea (PNG) - Robusta 1,632 1,755
\n PNG - Arabica 'A' Grade (U.S. cents\/lb) 233.95 223.35
\n PNG - Arabica 'X' Grade (U.S. cents\/lb) 223.95 213.35
\n PNG - Arabica 'Y' Grade (U.S. cents\/lb) 206.95 213.35
\n India - Arabica PB Grade (rupee\/kg) 141-142
\n NA India - Arabica A Grade (rupee\/kg) 140-141<\/p>",
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"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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