Vietnam's Nov coffee export to jump

[HANOI] A quickening coffee harvest following a price hike in October would boost Vietnam's export volume in November by at least 14 per cent, while discounts were steady this week despite higher global prices, traders said on Tuesday.

Rising supplies this month in the world's largest robusta producer may put a hold on global prices, which have risen around 3 per cent so far in Vietnam's new 2014/2015 crop year, mainly due to adverse weather in Brazil.

Vietnam's coffee season began on Oct 1 and ends on Sept 30, 2015. Its harvest, with output accounting for around one fifth of the world's total, is due to come into full swing from the second half of November. "Offers of 100-per cent fresh beans for loading later this month are already available, but the new beans are still small,"a trader in Ho Chi Minh City said.

Larger beans will arrive at the harvest peak, he added.

Vietnam is expected to export between 120,000 tonnes and 150,000 tonnes (2-2.5 million bags) of coffee this month, up at least 14 per cent from last month, traders said. "Vietnam sold strongly during a price rally last month, and the harvest picking up pace with domestic prices edging higher now will help lift the loading volume in November," another trader at a European firm in Ho Chi Minh City said.

The coffee exports last month jumped nearly 72 per cent from a year earlier to an estimated 105,000 tonnes, based on government statistics.

Shipment totalled 80,400 tonnes in Nov 2013.

Domestic prices jumped to a more than 16-month high in early October, prompting farmers to sell their stocks left from the previous 2013/2014 season, which yielded a record high of more than 30 million bags.

Output of the new season is expected to fall 10 per cent from the previous crop year due to aging trees and rains in some areas, said Deputy Chairman Do Ha Nam of the Vietnam Coffee and Cocoa Association (Vicofa).

London's January robusta contract gained 1.2 per cent to settle at US$2,073 a tonne on Monday.

The contract has risen 3.3 per cent since Sept 30.

REUTERS