Asia Coffee-Vietnam's discounts steady, rain may hit supplies
SOURCE:
REUTERS
By Phuong Nguyen and Mas Alina Arifin

HANOI/BANDAR LAMPUNG, Nov 24 (Reuters) - Supplies of new coffee beans from Vietnam's Central Highlands have slowed down, as scattered rain in the area disrupted cherry picking and drying process, traders said on Thursday.

Farmers in the Central Highlands, Vietnam's largest coffee-growing area, sold beans COFVN-DAK at 39,200-40,200 dong ($1.58-$1.62) per kg, slightly lower than 38,900-40,100 dong range a week ago.

"Rainfall has delayed the cherry-picking process in some areas the Central Highlands, raising concerns over supply in the next few weeks," said a trader based in the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak.

Another trader also based in the coffee belt said it rained only 1-2 days and the weather now has improved a lot.

"Rains in such short period will unlikely affect the bean's quality," the trader said, adding that farmers have already harvested 38-40% of their crop.

Traders in Vietnam offered 5% black and broken-grade 2 robusta COFVN-G25-SAI at a discount range of $60-$70 per tonne to the March contract, unchanged from last week.

January robusta futures on ICE LRCc2 settled down $20, or 1% on Wednesday, at $1,814 per tonne.

Supplies of Sumatran robusta in Indonesia's Lampung province remained thin, with some local exporters offering $190-$200 premiums to the January and February contract, one trader said.

Although lower than last week's $230 premium, the offer was still notably higher compared to $100-$110 premiums offered by foreign exporters, the trader said.

Another trader offered an unchanged $50 premium to the January contract.

"Trade is thin because there were very few new beans coming in to Bandar Lampung this week," the trader said.