SE Asian coffee trade quiet as roasters slow
SE Asian coffee trade quiet as roasters slow
SINGAPORE (Reuter): The Southeast Asian coffee business was
quiet as buying by roasters slowed ahead of the summer period
while the supply of robusta beans from Indonesia was said to be
steady, regional dealers said yesterday.
"All the buying by the roasters in the West has slowed down.
Summer is coming up and consumption normally comes off at this
time. The roasters also did a lot of buying during the recent
rally," a dealer for a Singapore-based trading house said.
Another trader said buyers were reluctant to come in due to
the steep offer prices being quoted by exporters in Indonesia and
were waiting for the bulk of the crop to come in next month.
Indonesia's key Grade 4 coffee, 80 defects, was being quoted
by the trade at around US$1,400-$1,450 a ton FOB Lampung against
last week's $1,350-$1,400 a ton on the same basis.
"The Indonesian prices are very high," one dealer said.
"People are sitting back. Anyway, the bulk of the crop will come
in full bore between May and July."
"I don't think much has been done although the beans from
Indonesia are coming in at a steady basis. People are waiting for
the rest of the coffee to come in," another said.
Dealers estimate that about 105,000-110,000 tons of coffee
from Indonesia has been sold or committed against 100,000 tons
last week. Total exports are seen reaching between 230,000-
270,000 tons this season.
Coffee was coming in from Indonesian farms at the rate of
about 500-600 tons a day, traders said.
"I heard that some of the exporters there have sold beans
through to July. The amount sold or committed today should easily
exceed 100,000 tons," a trader said.
Regional dealers were still uncertain about the extent of any
fall in Indonesia's coffee crop.
"I think it's still 20 percent down," one trader said.
Oesman Soedargo, chairman of the Association of Indonesian Coffee
Exporters, said two weeks ago the crop could be 30 percent down
with exports in 1997 tipped to fall to 220,000 tons from 300,000
tons last year.
Dealers said there was also talk circulating in the market
that a major trading house bought about 40,000 to 50,000 tons of
Thai coffee and stored the beans in New Orleans.
"I think they're holding onto part of that coffee because
prices have come off recently. I just wonder how they're
financing it though," one dealer said.
The coffee business in Vietnam, Asia's second largest coffee
producer, was also quiet with exporters now waiting for the next
crop to come in sometime in November.
"Most of the coffee there is still in the hands of the
farmer," a trader said. "I won't be surprised if they still have
over 70,000 tons of coffee."
Other dealers, however, pegged the amount of coffee remaining
in Vietnam at around 40,000 to 50,000 tons.
Prices of Vietnam's Grade 2 coffee, 8.0 percent black and
broken, were seen by the trade at around $1,350-$1,400 a ton FOB
Saigon, compared with last week's quote of $1,325-$1,400.
London robusta prices are tipped to open unchanged to slightly
lower later on Wednesday. "It's due $20 down purely on the
numbers. Technicals are not looking good," a dealer said.
Trading in the robusta coffee contract on the Singapore
Commodity Exchange (SICOM) reached a paltry 400 lots on Tuesday.
The 400 lots of the September contract settled at $1,539 a ton,
SICOM said.