Coffee traders turn from Vietnam to RI, Brazil
Coffee traders turn from Vietnam to RI, Brazil
HANOI (Reuters): Vietnam's coffee trade came to a near
standstill this week as buyers turned to Indonesia and Brazil,
traders said yesterday.
"Vietnam's prices are not as attractive as Indonesia," said a
dealer from Ho Chi Minh City.
"Buyers are shifting to Indonesia and Brazil for better
deals."
Indonesia is now Asia's main coffee supplier as Vietnamese
coffee stocks have dwindled. Vietnam is one of the world's top
exporters of robusta, used widely in the instant coffee industry.
Offers for benchmark grade 2, five percent black and broken
were $1,500-1,530 per ton, FOB Saigon Port, compared with $1,570-
1,580 last week.
Local coffee prices in the main producing province of Daklak
fell to 18.8 million dong ($1,447) per ton yesterday from 19.5
million dong last week.
London September futures ended at $1,620 on Thursday.
"Exporters have lowered their offers, but only a few buyers who
needed to cover their shorts showed any interest," said one
international trader.
Coffee beans from Vietnam's current crop will come onto the
market in late October and harvesting would last until January or
February 1999 - later than usual due to a recent prolonged
drought.
"The impact on production in the next few years will be
serious. The majority of coffee trees destroyed by the drought
were young and yet to produce beans," a senior official at the
Vietnam Coffee and Cocoa Association said.
Yields were predicted to drop between 14 and 33 percent over
last year. The 1997/98 harvest yielded 320,000 to 340,000 tonnes,
official figures showed.
Certificates of origin for 296,000 tonnes of Vietnamese coffee
have been granted since the 1997/98 crop began last October, he
added.
Figures released by the General Statistics Office estimated
the country would export 204,000 tonnes of coffee in the first
six months of this year, down 15.7 percent compared with the same
period last year.
The office said 174,000 tonnes were exported between January
and May.