Coffee prices in Asia were steady in the week to Friday, with little new crop traded in Vietnam, as an earlier typhoon delayed the ongoing harvest.
“The harvest has been delayed by Typhoon Mirinae. It may take another 10 days for the beans to arrive,” said a trader at an agricultural commodities trading house in Vietnam.
Cash discounts for the new crop narrowed to around $50 a metric ton against the Euronext.liffe January contract, down from $80/ton a week ago.
The benchmark January contract settled at $1,313/ton Thursday, $32 lower from a week earlier.
“People are paying close attention to any news about the quality of the new crop and the total output,” said an executive at a local trading firm, adding there isn’t much clarity. The firm expects a 10% drop in output, the executive added.
Vietnam, Asia’s largest coffee exporter, produced 16 million 60-kilogram bags in the 2008-09 crop year.
The International Coffee Organization said earlier this week the world’s 2009-10 coffee production will likely fall below 128.1 million 60-kg bags achieved in 2008-09, due to adverse weather in Brazil and Vietnam. It didn’t give a specific forecast.
Traders said the uncertain production outlook, coupled with falling local prices, curbed farmers’ interest in selling.
Local prices were quoted around VND23,000/kg this week, versus VND25,000/kg a week earlier.
In India, another major Asian producer, old crop robusta cherry AB beans traded at INR78/kg, down slightly from INR80/kg a week earlier, while arabica beans were quoted steady at 13 points over the ICE March futures contract.
The new crop is expected to come to the market in mid-December, traders said. (Dow Jones)
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