Vietnamese coffee prices remained stable as the market continued to soak in the holiday spirit, leading to a subdued first trading day in the new year, traders said on Tuesday. Traders quoted robusta grade 2, 5 pct black and broken at $60-$70 per tonne below the ICE March contract, same as a week ago, while bids were heard at $70-$80 a tonne.

The March contract rose 1 percent to $2,138 per tonne last Friday. Traders expect more deals in the next few weeks as exporters and farmers in Vietnam, the world's top robusta producer, step up loading after the Tet holidays, the country's longest festival to mark the Lunar New Year. The Tet holidays is scheduled for later this month.

"Sellers are likely to unload more grains for cash in the last month of the lunar calendar," said Nguyen Quang Binh, an analyst. "The prices now are pretty okay for a farmer to sell while more availability (supply) helps further," he added. Local prices advanced to 44,500 dong-45,700 dong ($1.96-$2.01) per kg on Tuesday, from 44,000 dong-44,400 dong last Tuesday. Vietnam is expected to have exported 1.79 million tonnes (29.83 million 60-kg bags) of coffee in 2016, up 33.7 percent from a year ago, the government said last week.

Copyright Reuters, 2017