Vietnamese coffee prices fall on growing global stocks

 Coffee prices in Vietnam have dropped nearly 3 percent in the last week, freezing trade in the world's top robusta exporter as global stocks grow after a steady harvest in Brazil, traders said on Tuesday. "The (export) market is deadly quiet now," a trader in Ho Chi Minh City said, with robusta beans falling to 42,100-42,400 dong ($2.02-$2.03) per kg on Tuesday in the country's key growing province of Daklak, down nearly 3 percent from 43,300-43,700 dong a week ago.

December arabicas on ICE lost 1.35 percent to close at $1.6705 a lb on Monday, their weakest level since June 28, following a rise in certified stocks and as steady harvesting in top producer Brazil weighed on prices. November robusta coffee futures also lost $26, or 1.2 percent, to end at $2,142 a tonne. The trader in Ho Chi Minh said buyers were aiming for robusta discounts of $30 a tonne to London's November contract, while exporters wanted premiums of $25 to $30 a tonne. During the first half of August 2011, Vietnamese robusta stood at premiums of $90 to $140 a tonne to London's second-month contract.

Based on bid and ask prices, Vietnamese robusta grade 2, 5 percent black and broken could be in a long range of between $2,112 to $2,172 a tonne on a free-on-board Saigon Port basis, from $2,155 a week ago. Vietnam, the world's No 2 coffee producer, has shipped a record volume of coffee so far in this 2011/2012 crop year, which lasts from October to September. That in combination with the steady arrival of beans from Brazil means ample supplies in global coffee markets. 

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