Pepper Prices May Touch 8-Year Low

Pepper prices are expected to drop to the lowest level since 1994 because of a glut in the global market.

According to sources in the Spices Board, leading pepper exporter, Vietnam, may add to the world glut if it fails to curb output.

Pepper production in Vietnam is expected to rise by 16 per cent this year to 67,000 tonnes from 58,000 tonnes last year, they said. Vietnam exported 56,000 tonnes last year, worth $90 million.

Quoting Bloomberg reports, P S Sreekantan Thampi, deputy director of the Spices Board, said pepper prices had fallen 79 per cent in the last two and half years because Vietnam doubled production and overtook Indonesia as the number one exporter.

Farm products make up 30 per cent of Vietnam