Vietnam’s pepper exports fetched 85 million USD in the first quarter of the year, equalling to the previous corresponding period’s value, due to the world’s price hike.

The nation’s first quarter export volume of 18,000 tonnes equals to only two-thirds of the previous corresponding period, added Director of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s Information Technology and Statistics Centre Nguyen Viet Chien.

Pepper export price now stands at 4,785 USD per tonne, a year-on-year rise of 53.8 percent.

The Vietnam Pepper Association (VPA) said the nation is expected to produce 100,000 tonnes of pepper this year, a year-on-year rise of 5 percent as pepper yield began to restore from a prolonged drought in 2010.

VPA President Do Ha Nam said Vietnam’s pepper makes up 60 percent of the world’s marketshare. With this position, he said, Vietnam can decide and govern pepper price in the world’s market.

Vietnam exported almost 117,000 tonnes of pepper for 421 million USD last year, a year-on-year rise of 20 percent, with the US, Germany and the Netherlands being Vietnam’s biggest pepper importers./.