Pepper prices on April 23 are at 98,000 VND per kilo in Dak Lak province, and 97,000 VND in Gia Lai and Dak Nong provinces. (Photo: VNA) Recently, pepper prices have skyrocketed. Experts said this priceincrease is related to the strong increase in coffee prices in the past months.
Specifically, in the Central Highlands, Vietnam's large pepperproduction region, the pepper price on April 23 is at 98,000 VND per kilo in DakLak province, and 97,000 VND in Gia Lai and Dak Nong provinces.
In the southeast region, the pepper price is at 96,500 VND perkilo in Dong Nai province, and 98,000 VND in Binh Phuoc and Ba Ria-Vung Tauprovinces.
The domestic pepper price has increased continuously in the lastweek after steadily decreasing in the previous week. Last week, the pepperprices rose by 7,500-9,000 VND per kilo, Cong Thuong (Industry andTrade) Newspaper reported.
Rising world demand helped Vietnamese pepper prices recoverstrongly last week.
Meanwhile, Brazil and Indonesia will have no more supply untilAugust. The pepper prices of Brazil and Indonesia are now higher thanVietnamese pepper, so the price increase potential of Vietnamese pepper isstill very high.
According to the General Department of Customs, pepper exports inthe first half of April 2024 reached 13,467 tonnes, worth nearly 58.47 millionUSD, up 15.4% in volume and 16.1% in value compared to the same period lastmonth. The exports decreased 1.6% in volume year on year, but increased sharplyby 40.1% in value.
In the first four months of 2024, the country’s pepper exportsreached 70,248 tonnes, worth more than 294 million USD, down 21.8% in volume,but up 7% in value compared to the same period in 2023.
The average export price of pepper in the first half of Aprilstood at 4,342 USD per tonne, up 0.8% compared to that in March.
So far in 2024, the average export price of pepper reached 4,189
USD per tonne, an increase of 36.8% over the same period in 2023.
The Vietnam Pepper and Spice Association (VPSA) said that therecent increase in pepper prices is due to low supply, high price of the USdollar, and conflicts in the world making transportation difficult. In addition,speculation is another reason for the increase.
The experts said that coffee and pepper are often grown inalternating areas. Due to recent dry and hot weather in key growing areas, manypepper plants died. The harsh weather also affects coffee trees, causing lowersupply, so coffee and pepper prices both increase.
The association said Vietnam is still the largest producer andexporter of pepper in the world. However, the area and output of Vietnamesepepper are decreasing due to high competition and market fluctuations thatcreate favourable conditions for development of other crops such as coffee anddurian. That makes the pepper supply decrease, while pepper demand increases,so the pepper prices are up./.
VNA
