At aconference on pepper and spice export on April 21, Lien said the forecast isbased on expectations that pepper prices will rise as demand recovers afterCOVID-19 while supply remains scarce.
Export prices are also expected to increase when processing improves andorganic cultivation is expanded, she said.
Pepper beans and spices brought home more than 1.4 billion USD last year, withpepper accounting for 69.4%, cinnamon 20.6%, star anise 5.1%, cardamon andnutmeg 2.3%, ginger and turmeric 1.6% and chilli 0.8%.
Chief of the VPA Office Le Viet Anh estimated that pepper bean harvest in 2023would be around 200,000 tonnes, up 9.3% year on year. Meanwhile, theInternational Pepper Community (IPC) has reported that output from other pepperproducers like Brazil, Indonesia and India is forecast to drop.
As aresult, total pepper output in the world is projected at 526,000 tonnes thisyear, compared to 537,600 tonnes in 2022.
Vietnam also expects a higher cinnamon output this year, at around 45,000tonnes.
The country shipped abroad 76,727 tonnes of pepper beans for 235.9 million USDin the first quarter of 2023, up 40.5% in volume but down 7.3% in value year-on-year.
Export of cinnamon rose 45.8% in volume to 18,685 tonnes and 13.8% in value to54.8 million USD.
Vietnamis one of the biggest exporters of pepper and spices, accounting for 11% of theglobal market in 2022./.