Asia Coffee-Sluggish trading in Vietnam, Indonesia ahead of holidays

HANOI/BANDAR LAMPUNG, Dec 22 (Reuters) – Coffee trade
was sluggish in Vietnam on thin demand, while Indonesia remained
quiet due to low stockpiles, traders said on Thursday.

Farmers in the Central Highlands, Vietnam’s largest
coffee-growing area, sold beans <COFVN-DAK> at 39,900 dong to
40,600 dong ($1.69-$1.72) per kg, down from last week’s range of
40,000 dong to 41,700 dong.

“Demand is not very high now. Beans have started to come,
but not so abundant as many traders are now on holidays,” said a
trader based in the coffee belt, adding that farmers are more or
less done harvesting their crops.

Traders said farmers were seeking to sell beans for the
upcoming long holiday. At the same time, they looked forward to
higher prices.

According to a biannual report from the United States
Department of Agriculture (USDA) released this week, Vietnam was
seen harvesting a crop of 30.2 million bags, down 1.4 million
from the prior season on reduced yields.

Fertiliser prices in Vietnam had risen as much as 70% in the
last year, the USDA noted.

Traders in Vietnam offered 5% black and broken-grade 2
robusta <COFVN-G25-SAI> at a discount of $80 to $90 per tonne to
the May contract, unchanged from last week.

March robusta futures on ICE settled up $11 at
$1,879 per tonne on Wednesday.

Sumatran robusta beans for the January contract were offered
at $100 premium in Indonesia’s Lampung province, unchanged from
last week.

Another trader offered $140 to $150 premium to the January
and February contracts, compared with $140 premium last week.

Both the traders said coffee trading activities were pretty
quiet.

($1 = 23,660 dong)
(Reporting by Phuong Nguyen in Hanoi, Mas Alina Arifin in
Bandar Lampung;)