"Many farmers are selling their newly harvested beans ahead of the holiday to have some cash for beer and food, as well as new clothing for their kids," a trader based in the Central Highlands said. Government's customs data released last week showed that Vietnam exported 82,722 tonnes of coffee in the first half of January, compared with 74,290 tonnes in the first half of December.
Coffee growers in Vietnam, the world's largest robusta producer, have sold about 40 percent of their new harvest to traders, traders said. The 2018-19 harvest ended early this month. "There's been no official data on the output of the 2018-19 crop year, but I think it's not higher than 25 million 60-kg bags," another trader based in the Central Highlands, the country's largest coffee growing area, said.
Traders had earlier forecasted the output at 30 million bags, which was later revised down to 27 million bags. Farmers in the Central Highlands sold coffee at 32,600-33,800 dong ($1.41-$1.46) per kg on Thursday, compared with a range of 32,900-33,600 dong a week earlier.
Traders in Vietnam offered 5 percent black and broken grade 2 robusta at a $60-$70 per tonne discount to the March contract, compared with $20-$30 discount last week. Meanwhile, in Indonesia, virtually no transactions have been recorded this week on empty stock, a situation that is expected to last until March when a mini harvest will likely begin in some areas.
"Hopefully, there will be supplies from a small harvest in places like West Lampung, Bengkulu and Palembang in March," a trader said, referring to some robusta producing areas in southern region of Sumatra. Main robusta harvest in Sumatra typically starts around mid-year but some areas usually have a smaller harvest earlier.
Indonesia's premium for the grade 4 defect 80 robusta stayed flat at $50-$60 to the March contract on Thursday, a trader in Lampung said. Other trader there said the premium stood at $130, compared to a range of $130-$150 last week.