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Vietnam, world’s largest producer and exporter of black and white pepper, has exported 111,395 tones of pepper, including 100,820 tones of black pepper and 10,575 tones of white pepper during January – June period of the current year. Compared to the same period of 2013, exports rose 35.16% in volume, Black pepper exports increased 42.19% where as white pepper dropped roughly 10%.
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Whereas India could hardly managed to export only 9,500 tones of pepper during the period. Much higher prices offered by India had caused the serious fall in the export of pepper.According to Vietnam Pepper Association (VPA) export turnover marked a strong growth over the same period , increased 47.5% equivalent to US $257 million. The total value of exports reached $797 million in which black pepper contributed $694 million and white pepper $103million.
This hike was mainly due to the sharp increase in the global price of the commodity for the last one year. The average export price of black pepper during the period was US $6,885 per tone and white pepper reached 9716 per tone, with a corresponding increase of $707/tone for black pepper and for white pepper the increase was $851/tone over the same period of last year.
The biggest advantage of Vietnam is their huge production and the highest productivity across the world. Thanks to these key factors, the county could offer the lowest prices across the world. The Indian prices were higher by US $3,000/tone than the Vietnam’s quotes which literally drove India out of the international market of the spice, said a top Kochi based exporter. Even Indian manufacturers of value added products depend mainly on imported pepper. North Indian markets also sell imported pepper as it is cheaper compared to the local grades.
During this year Vietnam is reported to have a total production of around 150,000 tones while India’s production confine to less than 35,000 tones. Some growers projects a much lower production than this; at around 25,000 tones only. The leverage of large scale production and productivity help Vietnam growers to offer world’s lowest price tags.
U.S. market continues to be the largest importer of pepper from Vietnam with 22,632 tones during January – June period of the current year. However, Singapore emerged as a strongest importer of Vietnam pepper in recent times , the volume of imports of Singapore in the first 6 months reached 12,618 tons , up 6,524 tons from last year.
While most markets like India , Saudi Arabia , Pakistan, Netherlands , Spain have seen an increase in their imports , except Germany. German market recorded a drop in imports from Vietnam . In the first 6 months Germany imported only 3525 tons, according to the data of Vietnam Ministry of Agriculture. India imported 7431 tones of Vietnam pepper during this period and Pakistan had bought 4511 tones.
Vietnam's pepper exports could fetch a record US$1 billion this year, with around 140,000 tonnes of the spice to be exported, according to the Vietnam Pepper Association (VPA).
The International Pepper Community (IPC) forecast that global supply to fall by 45,000 tonnes this year to 320,000 tonnes and demand to remain high, keeping prices high. With 50% global market share, Vietnam has been able to dominate the market.
Vietnamese pepper products are exported to 90 countries and territories, the association said, with the EU and Asian countries being the largest export destinations.
Price gallops
Meanwhie global prices breached the level of US $10,000/tone, while domestic farm gate pepper prices are moving in the 12500 levels. With Malaysia and Indonesia experiencing supply crunch and India turning out to be a net importer, sky is the limit with regard to pricing of pepper, said a leading exporter.
