The fear is that a tropical low in the South China Sea might unleash more rains at the weekend over the central highlands, where most of the country's coffee is grown. Vietnam's central coastal region to the north is currently suffering its worst floods in a century that have killed nearly 300 people. The dry season in the central highlands normally starts at the beginning of November, but coffee beans have ripened earlier this crop. Harvesting usually lasts until January.

Daklak accounts for 60 per cent of Vietnam's robusta output and traders have expressed concern that prolonged rains may not only disrupt harvesting but also cause a higher ratio of black beans along with high moisture levels. Many Vietnamplantations still dry beans outdoors. Nevertheless, dealers said prices were stable and trade dull, with some buyers making small purchases to cover their short positions.

Vietnam's robusta grade two, 5.0 percent black and broken was quoted at $971-979 a tonne, FOB Saigon Port on last Friday, almost unchanged from the week before. There were no quotes for lower grade 8.0 per cent black and broken. One dealer said some exporters were afraid to commit for November shipment because of the rains, which might delay delivery to Saigon Port. "If it rains like this for another week, we might be in trouble," he said.

Vietnam, one of the world's top robusta exporters, is expected to yield a bumper crop of 4,00,000-4,50,000 tonnes for the 1999/2000 season compared with 3,95,000 tonnes last crop. It exported 3,19,000 tonne of robusta in the first 10 months of the year, up 9.2 per cent from the same period in 1998, official statistics show.