"If the typhoon makes landfall, it could disrupt production and the export volume may fall to around 100,000 tonnes," a Vietnamese trader said. Last month, Vietnam exported an estimated 110,000 tonnes of coffee. Last year, rains in October and November disrupted the harvest in Vietnam, the world's top robusta producer, and slowed exports.. Vietnam still shipped a record high 1.6 million tonnes of coffee in the 2011/2012 season.
Farmers have now harvested more than 60 percent of their crop and domestic prices were also rising. Robusta was priced at 38,000-38,100 dong a kg ($1.82-$1.83) on Tuesday in Daklak, the top growing province, up from 37,400-38,000 dong a week ago.
"Farmers have been selling slowly as they have access to bank loans and prices are good now," another trader in Ho Chi Minh City said. Vietnamese exporters have now switched to offering discounts to London's March futures contract at $30-$40 a tonne, while buyers sought bids at $60-$70 per tonne. Last week they still used the January contract for their quotations. The March contract closed down $10 at $1,910 a tonne on Monday, meaning Vietnamese beans grade 2, 5 percent black and broken were standing at $1,840-$1,880 a tonne, free-on board basis, up from $1,804-$1,854 a week ago.