HANOI, Sept 15 (Reuters) - Coffee prices in Vietnam have not moved in the past week as buyers held back, waiting for the arrival of fresh beans from the harvest that started earlier this month, traders said on Tuesday.
   Exporters in Buon Ma Thuot, capital of the top coffee-growing province of Daklak, said quotations were steady at around 25,600 dong ($1.43) per kg, unchanged from a week ago, and sales were slow as buyers waited for the new, higher-quality beans.
   "Sales should only pick up from mid-October or early November when more fresh beans hit the market," a trader in Buon Ma Thuot said.
   Discounts for new-crop beans shrank to $110 a tonne to London January futures this week from $135 last week, another trader in Buon Ma Thuot said.
   Quotations for spot shipment stood at $1,450 per tonne, free on board, for robusta grade 2, 5 percent black and broken, unchanged from last week but up from $1,350-$1,360 a tonne two weeks ago <COFFEE/ASIA1>, traders said.
   Delivery of fresh beans could pick up from late November or December, when the new harvest peaks. The coffee crop year lasts from October to September, starting with a four-month harvest. ($1=17,825 dong) (Reporting by Nguyen Nhat Lam; Editing by Alan Raybould) 
  
Tuesday, 15 September 2009 10:54:29RTRS [nHAN467631] {C}ENDS

    By Ho Binh Minh
   HANOI, Sept 1 (Reuters) - Dwindling coffee stocks in Vietnam ahead of a harvest due to start in six weeks, coupled with a lack of clear market direction, have prompted buyers to wait while exporters were reluctant to sell this week, traders said.