"In terms of differentials (to London levels), the change is not much. But offers have dropped by some $100 and could drop even more," a trader at a western trading firm said.

Offers for Vietnam's robusta grade 2, five per cent black and broken were offered at around $1,500 a tonne, down from around $1,600 late last week. "I heard some small deals were done at around $1,470 on Wednesday," another trader said.

"Western trading houses are not terribly short. They can wait in comfort for lower prices if they need to cover positions. Vietnamese suppliers understand they cannot be greedy any more," he said.

Brazil's currency devaluation prompted some Vietnamese coffee suppliers to raise prices and hold beans last week. Brazil is the world's largest coffee producer and somesuppliers there held commodities valued indollars during the currency crisis.

Harvesting of Vietnam's 1998/99 coffee crop started in October and lasts until January.

But sales can continue until late February or early March, when the harvesting in the other Asian coffee producer Indonesia, kicks in.

Many Vietnamese suppliers would want to sell beans for cash before the Lunar New Year, which falls on February 16 this year, traders said.

"I think they have realised that the good time for high prices has gone," a trader at a Singapore house said.

On Wednesday in London, LIFFE benchmark March ended $10 lower at $1,665 per tonne. "They still have a lot of stocks to sell but buying has not been great. We may see $1,400 a tonne if the international markets are still weak," he said.

Traders said some 70 per cent of Vietnam's crop had been harvested and only some 30 per cent had been sold.