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The Vietnam News

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Asia coffee: floods seen delaying Vietnam cargoes

SINGAPORE - Torrential rains in central Vietnam are likely to delay arrivals of the new coffee crop to the second half of November and also disrupt shipments scheduled for October, some traders said on Thursday. "The rains have affected farmers drying their crop. So it (the new crop) has been delayed a bit. We expect the new crop some time during the second half of November," said one trader.

"There're difficulties. There's about 1,500 hectare of producing land being affected (by the floods). There could be major delays in October shipments," the trader added. Initially many traders expected the new crop in Vietnam, set to be yet another record of 700,000 tonnes or more, to begin flowing into the market later this month. Earlier this week, a tropical low pressure system caused two days of heavy rains in Vietnam, flooding a wide area, including the central highlands of coffee growing province of Dak Lak, where three people were killed on Monday. The trader, who forecast the new Vietnamese crop to be as large as 750,000 tonnes, said 60,000 to 70,000 tonnes of the crop might be affected by a combination of the floods and a retention plan aimed at propping up international coffee prices. An Indonesian official said on Monday Asia's top coffee producers, including Vietnam, Indonesia and India, hoped to meet later this month to hammer out their participation in the global retention scheme.

Traders said Vietnamese benchmark robusta grade two, five percent black and broken, was seen at $160-$220 per tonne, FOB Saigon Port, under London's January contract for October and November shipments. The Indonesian season is seen finished, with only few offers seen at a discount of $120-$150 per tonne, though some local exporters might still have some short positions, they said.

Reuters - October 13, 2000.