The export prices of Vietnamese pepper jumped to the two-year record level of $2,050 per ton on August 23, according to the Vietnam Pepper Association (VPA).
Soaring global demand coupled with scare domestic supply, resulted from lean pepper harvest, are major reasons backing pepper prices to continue to rise in the coming time.
The association also revealed that Vietnam, the world's largest pepper exporter, witnessed a sharp fall of 10 per cent in pepper output to only 90,000 tons of pepper in the crop year ending June 2006.
Meanwhile, statistics from the government showed that domestic enterprises exported 89,000 tons of pepper in the first eight months of this year, earning $129 million, up 36.9 per cent and 44.3 per cent on-year, respectively.
The country, thus, has little pepper left in stock for exports for the rest of this year, the VPA said.
At present, just 31,500 tons of pepper is available at supplying markets in southern Binh Phuoc and Ba Ria Vung Tau provinces, two of the largest pepper growing areas in Vietnam.
The country is expected to ship abroad 100,000 tons of pepper in 2006, making up for more than 50 per cent of the world's total pepper shipments.
Vietnamese pepper products are currently available in as many as 80 overseas markets with 37 per cent of which to the EU, 31 per cent to Asian countries, and 25 per cent to North America. Other importers of Vietnamese pepper include Russia and the Middle East.
According to forecast from the International Pepper Community, pepper prices will stabilize again late this year thanks to bountiful pepper supplies from Brazil and India as the world’s biggest pepper producers predicts lucrative harvest.
Vietnam Economic Times
Vietnamese
