Vietnam shipped abroad 78,000 tonnes of pepper in the first seven months of the year, earning 420 million USD, equal to the value of the entire 2010.

According to President of the Vietnam Pepper Association (VPA) Do Ha Nam , the US and Germany are the two largest importers of Vietnamese pepper, while the Netherlands , the United Arab Emirates and Egypt also bought large volumes.

At the moment, Vietnam has almost completed this year’s pepper harvest with an estimated output of 100,000-110,000 tonnes, equal to the volume of 2010.

The exports price of pepper from now till early 2012 is forecast to stay high as supplies from major producers like Vietnam , Brazil and Indonesia cannot meet the world’s demands.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development expects that the country would earn over 766 million USD in 2011, 346 million USD more than the figure of 2010./.