In the first 6 months of 2023, pepper exports to many markets continuously decreased, but China suddenly increased sharply.
On August 8, in Ho Chi Minh City, the Vietnam Pepper and Spice Association (VPA) organized a conference to evaluate opportunities and challenges for this industry in 2023.
According to VPA, while consumption demand in important markets such as the US, EU, and China is increasing, pepper supply in many countries around the world is decreasing due to crop failure due to weather. Therefore, the pepper market will continue to increase in the last months of the year in both price and quantity.
According to VPA’s report, in the first months of 2023, the price of (black) pepper gradually increased from 57,000 VND/kg in January to 73,000 VND in May – a price nearly equal to 2022 and 8,000 VND higher than in 2021. VND/kg.
However, entering June and July, the price began to decrease to only 68,000 VND/kg because some major pepper producing countries in the world such as Indonesia and Brazil began the harvest.
By the end of June, Vietnam had exported 153,000 tons of pepper of all kinds, reaching a turnover of 486 million USD. Compared to the same period last year, export output increased by 22% but turnover decreased by nearly 15%, equivalent to 82 million USD. The reason is that at the beginning of the year, the world economic situation faced many difficulties, so export prices were not good. Specifically, the average export price of black pepper was 3,484 USD/ton, down to 879 USD/ton; white pepper is 5,011 USD/ton, down 1,070 USD/ton.
After reopening, China boosted pepper imports from Vietnam. Specifically, in the first 6 months of 2023, China imported 50,369 tons, up 798% over the same period in 2022 (reaching 5,609 tons) and up to 1.7 times over the same period in 2021 (reaching 29,063 tons). With strong growth, China accounts for 33% of Vietnam’s pepper export market share. China’s promotion of purchasing has helped Vietnam’s domestic pepper prices increase sharply in the period from March to May.
Besides China, the Philippines also grew by 29% and Türkiye by 102%.
According to VPA, one of the major pepper exporting countries is Brazil, which is currently in harvest season and is forecast to decrease output due to heavy rain. Similarly, in Indonesia, the harvest begins in July and lasts until September, with output also lower than in 2022. In India, the harvest ended in April with output down about 9% compared to last year. before.
In contrast, Sri Lanka increased slightly and Malaysia increased 2% in area and output was estimated at 23,000 tons, up 5% compared to 2022. In Vietnam, output was estimated at 190,000 tons, up 3.8% over 2020. 2022.
In the long term, due to limited world supply and growing demand from the US, EU, and China markets, pepper prices will continue to move positively. In Vietnam, the remaining output is not much and is expected to end in August this year.
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