Robusta coffee up on weaker Vietnam sales
* July robusta coffee climbed $17, or 1.0 percent, to $1,754 a tonne.
* Dealers noted prices were supported by waning selling by Vietnamese producers, who are said to be well sold forward and willing to hold onto coffee at current levels.
* Differentials in Vietnam have firmed up this week as a result, one dealer said, moving to discounts of roughly $60-80 per tonne. Differentials collapsed to $100-120 earlier in the month.
* July arabica coffee rose 0.45 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $1.1775 per lb.
* Dealers said speculators were taking a breather, after pushing prices to 3-1/2 week lows earlier in the week, although the market remained vulnerable.
* “The funds are very much still not shaken out of their short position and are happy to sell rallies,” said another dealer. “And people see a lot of coffee availability.”
* Participants were also closely monitoring the Brazilian real, which has sharply weakened recently, spurring selling by producers and speculators.
* “The real is in a much weaker position so, from a Brazilian perspective, it’s attractive (to sell),” the dealer said.
“What it has done is taken away any bullish momentum that might have been building on the back of short covering.”