Life hard for local pepper farmers

Land of pepper becomes 'land of debt'

Vietnam may lose top rank as largest pepper producer: IPC 

In the first four months of the year, the country earned 270 million USD from shipping 103,000 tonnes of peppercorn abroad, down 12.2 percent in value and up 18.6 percent in volume year-on-year.

The average export prices of the spice stood at 2,619 USD per tonne, a yearly decline of 25.9 percent.

In the southern province of Binh Phuoc, one of the country’s biggest peppercorn producers, close to 20,000 tonnes of peppercorn have been harvested in this year’s new crop.

In 2018, Vietnam exported about 232,000 tonnes worth 758 million USD, up 8.1 percent in volume but down 32.2 percent in value.

Vietnam’s peppercorn output this year is predicted to reach around 200,000 tonnes, according to the International Pepper Community (IPC).

Output of black pepper was forecast at 175,000 tonnes, while the remainder would be white pepper.

The IPC also predicted the peppercorn output of the world’s biggest exporters such as Vietnam, Brazil, Indonesia, and India in 2019 would be lower than last year.

The Foreign Trade Agency under the Ministry of Industry and Trade said up to 95 percent of Vietnam’s peppercorn output was exported.

Experts suggested local peppercorn producers and exporters should associate and connect with international customers to expand their consumption markets, as well as improve the quality of its products.–VNA