A Vietnamese naval soldier standing guard next to a Vietnamese flag on Thuyen Chai Island, one of the Spratly Islands, in this January 2013 file photo. (EPA Photo/STR)

The post Vietnam to Spend $257m on Port, Storage for Oil Products appeared first on The Jakarta Globe.

Coffee shops in Jakarta adjust their marketing tools to commemorate the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan. (Antara Photo/Eric Ireng)

Hanoi Coffee sales from Vietnam stayed moderate following recent price gains, while a slow harvest in Indonesia provided just sufficient beans for domestic roasters, traders said on Thursday.

September robusta closed down $4, or 0.2 percent, at $1,750 a ton on Wednesday. The move caused the July/September spread to extend its rally to as high as a $62 premium, the highest on a spot continuation chart since March 2014.

Coffee prices in Vietnam, the world’s top robusta producer, now stand at 37,000-38,100 dong ($1.70-$1.75) per kg, widening from 37,100-37,900 dong a week ago, with 38,100 dong being the highest level touched since May 19, based on Reuters data.

“Sales had a pick-up last week and then slowed a bit as prices stabilized this week,” a trader in Ho Chi Minh City said, adding that several foreign-invested companies have been the most active buyers in recent days.

Traders noted that foreign buyers were not in a rush to take Vietnamese robustas, due in part to the high stocks held by farmers and domestic speculators.

Vietnamese robusta grade 2, 5 percent black and broken were offered at premiums of $50-$60 a ton to ICE September contract, narrowing from premiums of $50-$70 a week ago.

Grade 1 beans, screen 16 stood at premiums of $110-$120 a ton.

The hoarding in Vietnam has been behind the biggest premiums of spot ICE robusta prices in more than a year.

“Sale is going just fine but it is difficult to accelerate,” another trader in Ho Chi Minh City said.

In Indonesia, Sumatran robusta grade 4, 80 defects stood unchanged in the past two weeks at $1,850-$1,870 a ton, free-on-board Lampung, while fresh beans from the ongoing harvest have been taken mostly by domestic users, traders said.

Indonesia may harvest a larger crop this year after output from the previous April 2014-March 2015 season fell 23 percent from a year ago to 9 million 60-kg bags, the London-based International Coffee Organization said in its May report.

The current harvest is projected at 10 million to 10.83 million bags (600,000-650,000 tons), down 50,000 tons from a previous industry forecast.

Indonesia’s crop year lasts from April to March, while Vietnam’s season begins in October and ends in September. The two nations account for a quarter of global coffee exports.

Reuters

The post Vietnam’s Coffee Sales Moderate, Indonesia’s Harvest Slow appeared first on The Jakarta Globe.

Hanoi. Vietnam devalued the dong currency for the second time this year on Thursday to support exports and curb import demand which has left it with a trade deficit.

The move had been widely expected after Vietnam recorded a $3 billion trade deficit in the first four months of the year, compared with a surplus of $2 billion in the same period last year.

The central bank said it had lowered the mid-point rate for the currency on the interbank market by 1 percent to 21,673 dong per dollar.

Dollar/dong transactions can move in a band of plus or minus 1 percent around the mid-point, which the central bank sets daily.

“The market had expected this change right after the government released data on the trade deficit,” a money market dealer at a Vietnamese bank in Ho Chi Minh City said.

The previous depreciation was on Jan. 7, when the central bank also weakened the dong by 1 percent to help stabilize the foreign exchange market.

The State Bank of Vietnam said in a statement that recent pressure on the dollar/dong rate was “psychological” and “in market expectations”, saying its latest move was to help meet socio-economic targets and cope with negative impacts from global markets.

“The [market] expectation is more depreciation as the dong is down just 2 percent while other currencies in the region have fallen 4-5 percent now,” he said.

Last December, central bank Governor Nguyen Van Binh said it would keep the dong depreciation to less than 2 percent for the whole of 2015.

After Thursday’s adjustment, the dong fell to 21,650-21,730 per dollar on the interbank market, from 21,620-21,670 the previous day.

Vietnam’s January-April exports rose 8.2 percent to an estimated $50.1 billion, while imports surged 19.9 percent.

The government has projected annual export growth of 10 percent for the whole of 2015, slowing from a rise of 13.7 percent last year.

Reuters

The post Vietnam Devalues Dong for 2nd Time This Year on Trade Deficit appeared first on The Jakarta Globe.

Hanoi. Asian rice prices are under pressure from thin buying demand and rising supplies in the world’s leading exporters of the grain, traders said on Wednesday.

In Thailand, the top rice exporter, prices softened due to competition from Vietnam and rising supplies from government stock sales, traders said.

“The market is quiet, and is not so good for us because Vietnam’s newer supply is coming in,” said Kiattisak Kanlayasirivat from Ascend Commodities in Bangkok. “It would be difficult for us to compete simply because their price is cheaper than ours.”

The Thai benchmark 5-percent broken grade eased to between $405 and $412 a ton this week, free on board (FOB), from $413 a ton a week earlier, while the similar grade in Vietnam stood unchanged at between $355 and $360 a ton, FOB basis.

The Thai government will finalize this week the results of a rice tender of 1 million tons from state warehouses, Commerce Minister Chatchai Sarikulya said on Tuesday.

Thai rice prices are likely to stay low due to the increased supply, with ample stocks in Africa and a weakened euro to further reduce demand from the continent, traders said.

In Vietnam, the third-biggest exporter after Thailand and India, quotations of a low-quality grade recovered slightly from multi-year lows but thin buying demand before a long holiday and the peak harvest season in March curbed the rise.

The 25-percent broken rice edged up to between $330 and $335 a ton FOB on Wednesday, from between $320 and $325 a week earlier, after hitting the lowest level since July 28, 2010 last week. The offers are for March/April loading.

Last week, Vietnam’s 5-percent broken rice also weakened to its lowest since September 2013, even before harvesting reaches its peak in March.

“Prices have stopped falling and recovered slightly because of news about several deals, but given a holiday ahead, they will not rise further,” a trader in Ho Chi Minh City said.

Malaysia has agreed to buy 240,000 tons of Vietnam’s 5-percent broken rice for April to November delivery, traders in Vietnam said.

Vietnam will close all markets between Feb. 14 and Feb. 23 for Tet, its biggest festival to mark the Lunar New Year.

The March harvest peak of the winter-spring crop, Vietnam’s biggest, could keep up the downward pressure on prices unless the country secures a large government deal, traders said.

Reuters

The post Asian Rice Prices Under Pressure From Slowing Demand, Rising Supplies appeared first on The Jakarta Globe.