Pepper prices perk up on increased demand

The price of pepper in the Central Highland provinces has surged to VND130 million (US$6,046) a tonne on the back of reduced output in India and Indonesia, higher world demand and the end of the growing season.

In addition, many farmers and domestic traders were stock-piling pepper to speculate on the trend to higher prices at the end of season, Viet Nam Pepper Association spokesperson Tran Duc Tung said.

Chinese traders had turned to the highland provinces to buy pepper and Vietnamese farmers were prepared for them, having followed their association’s advice and the world pepper market on the internet, Tung said.

This combination of events had caused pepper prices to increase by the day.

In the first quarter, Viet Nam exported 25,128 tonnes of pepper, earning $123 million. The exports saw a year-on-year reduction of 11 per cent in volume but a year-on-year increase of 44 per cent in value.

The average price on the world market in the first quarter increased by 159 per cent to $4,460 per tonne of black pepper and by 176 per cent to $6,964 per tonne of white pepper against the same period last year.

The price is expected to jump to $6,000 per tonne for black pepper and $8,000 per tonne for white pepper in coming months.

Last year, the country exported 117,000 tonnes of pepper, earning $421 million. Exports reduced by 13 per cent in volume but showed an increase of 20.3 per cent in value compared with 2009. — VNS

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