The provinces of South Sumatra, Lampung and Bengkulu account for 70 per cent of Indonesia's coffee output. The country's coffee production is expected to reach 330,000 tonnes in 1998, unchanged from last year because of the severe drought.

"Looting is rampant in the plantation areas since the harvest started in May. I can say at least 50 tonnes of coffee beans have been looted," said one trader in Bandar Lampung, capital of Lampung.

Traders said looters, attracted by higher prices of coffee, would come to plantation areas in the evening and pick the coffee beans at random. The harvest is expected to reach its peak in July and last through September.

"The looters come from areas outside Sumatra. They are daring people who do not care about their own safety. I have heard reports they tied up plantation guardsbefore stealing the coffee beans," said one trader, adding that looting would finish around four in the morning.

Police could not be reached for comment on Monday.

Coffee prices have soared because of the fall of the rupiah against the US dollar since last July. But traders said they had yet to calculate how the looting had affected output.

"The looting has caused farmers to quickly harvest their coffee. This, of course, affects the quality. We don't report the case to police simply because we don't trust them," said the Lampung trader.

The looting occurred as coffee trading started to return to normal after last month's riots in Jakarta in which more than 500 people were killed.

The riots had disrupted commodities trading for days because traders were concerned about their goods and their own safety. Coffee shipments were hampered because banks were closed and traders said robberies of coffee trucks were also reported.

Traders said Indonesian coffee had begun to hit the market again after thecountry's political tensions eased.

Coffee prices in Asia have fallen as recent supply worries eased due to the fresh rains in Vietnam and the easing political crisis in Indonesia.

Indonesian traders said grade-four robusta beans were quoted at 17,000-17,500 rupiah/kg. Prices hovered at 18,000/18,500 rupiah/kg last week on tight supply and political uncertainty.

Fob prices in Lampung were quoted at $1,600-1,650/ tonne. The rupiah was quoted at 11,350/11,550 against the dollar at 0645 GMT.

Traders said a lack of containers remained an issue in the market, but this had not disrupted shipments.

"Yes, it is still an issue here, but it does not disrupt shipments. We procure containers from Singapore," said one Jakarta-based trader.

"Traders are generally comfortable to trade again. We monitor the movements of the rupiah," said the trader.

Lampung traders said heavy rains fell overnight in the plantation areas there.

"Rains do not disturb the harvesting activity, but we have to be very quick incollecting the beans. The quality of the coffee beans will reduce if the water content is too high," said one trader.

The harvest had been delayed by the drought triggered by the El Nino weather phenomenon, which also affected the output of other commodities such as rubber, cocoa and rice.

Indonesia's coffee is mainly exported through Lampung.

Traders said at least 30,000 tonnes of coffee beans were exported from Indonesia, through Medan in North Sumatra, Lampung and Palembang in South Sulawesi each month.