By Phuong Nguyen and Mas Alina Arifin
HANOI, July 10 (Reuters) –
Coffee prices in Vietnam edged down further this week on thin trading activity as the crop season comes to an end and the global beans stockpile recovers on the back of supply from Indonesia and Brazil, traders said on Thursday.
Farmers in the Central Highlands, Vietnam’s largest coffee-growing region, sold beans
at 92,300-92,600 dong ($3.54-$3.55) per kg, down from last week’s 94,700-95,200 dong.
“Big roasters are buying cautiously amid tariff risks (from the U.S.), while exporters from Vietnam started to take profits and release more inventories,” said a trader based in the coffee belt.
“The fact that Indonesian and Brazilian beans are hitting the markets is another reason for decreasing prices.”
Another trader based in the region said it received sufficient rain recently and is likely to improve supply.
Robusta coffee settled down $98, or 2.7%, at $3,470 a metric ton on Wednesday.
Traders offered 5% black and broken-grade 2 robusta
in the range of $120-$130 per ton premium to the September LIFFE contract.
Vietnam exported 943,000 tons of coffee in the first half of this year, up 4.1% from the same period last year, government data showed. June exports stood at 119,000 tons, an annual increase of 53%.
In Indonesia, Sumatra robusta coffee beans were offered at $240-$250 premium range to the August-September contract, unchanged from last week, one trader said.
Another trader quoted beans at $200 premium to the September contract, also the same as last week.
($1 = 26,110.0000 dong) (Reporting by Phuong Nguyen and Mas Alina Arifin; Editing by Harikrishnan Nair)
