Pepper exports up in seven months
Pepper exports up in seven months
Viet Nam's pepper exports for the first seven months of this year rose over the same period last year, but pepper supplies are forecast to fall in the remaining months, according to the Viet Nam Pepper Association (VPA).
Pepper exports achieved a year-on-year increase of 22.8 per cent in volume to 94,000 tonnes and 17.7 per cent in value to US$618 million during the first seven months of 2013, the association said.
Pepper was one of few farming products to see a surge in export value during the past months, partly thanks to pepper prices of VND135,000 ($6.4) per kilo, VND18,000-20,000 ($0.85-0.95) higher than the prices earlier this year.
However, by the end this year, supply of pepper was expected to fall and this year's total pepper exports are forecast to be lower than last year, according to the association.
VPA chairman Do Ha Nam said the country's pepper output was forecast to reach 95,000 tonnes this year, 15 per cent lower than 2012, despite the total area under pepper cultivation expanding to 60,000ha from 57,500ha in 2012.
The decrease in output was blamed on a long rainy period in June 2012, which resulted in fewer pepper trees flowering.
The country's average annual pepper output is 100,000 tonnes, accounting for 50 per cent of pepper traded on the global market, he said.
Viet Nam's pepper output reached 125,000 tonnes in 2011 and 115,000 tonnes in 2012.
Nam said export prices for Vietnamese pepper reached an average of $8,800 per tonne for white pepper and $6,090 per tonne for black pepper.
These prices were expected to increase this year due to falling supply in Viet Nam, India, Malaysia and Indonesia.
The export price of Vietnamese pepper was expected to surge as foreign traders take more notice of Vietnamese pepper.
Therefore, Vietnamese traders should be carefully in signing export contracts so that they can benefit from expected price rises later this year.
vietnamnews
