Vietnam's pepper output accounts for more than 50% of the world market share, but the value is not high compared to the export pepper of India, Brazil … and the brand is getting worse!
Careless practices of many businesses and traders are discrediting the brand of Vietnamese pepper and farmers' production (illustration image).
The price gap is increasingly far away
Estimated crop year 2013, Vietnam's pepper output is about 90,000-95,000 tons, down 21% compared to 2012 (102,025 tons), export pepper output is estimated at 90,000-95,000 tons. The reason for the decline in pepper production, explained by the Vietnam Pepper Association (VPA) is due to unfavorable weather, along with pests and diseases, especially due to the fact that many pepper gardens exploited over 10 years are old. barren and low productivity.
It is worth mentioning that, besides the lower output compared to 2012, Vietnam's export price of pepper in the first quarter of 2013 was even further away from the market price. Data from the General Department of Customs shows that, in the first 3 months of 2013, Vietnam exported 38,374 tons (up 23.5% compared to the same period in 2012), bringing the turnover of 254.1 million USD. However, the export price of this item is increasingly far away from the world price. Specifically, Vietnam's black pepper export price in February was lower than the world price of 498 USD / ton; white pepper price was lower than USD 503 / ton.
Explaining that Vietnam's pepper price is much lower than the world price, Mr. Do Ha Nam – VPA Chairman said: “The reason for exporting to countries like India and Brazil is higher because they produce higher prices. ASTA standard (sterilized according to international food safety standards) while Vietnam mainly deals with steam, so it only produces clean pepper. The price of clean pepper is lower than ASTA standard of about US $ 200 – 300 / ton ”. Also according to Mr. Nam, thanks to advanced processing technology, the above countries have purchased raw materials from Vietnam to handle and sold them to the market at high prices.
Meanwhile, in a different perspective, Mr. Hoang Phuoc Binh – Vice Chairman of Chu Se Pepper Association (Gia Lai) said: “Due to the psychological factor, in 2012, many farmers and businesses bought pepper. In the beginning and the end of the crop, it was not as effective as in 2011, so by the beginning of the year of 2013, both people and businesses were massively selling, resulting in price pressure. So far, the price has dropped sharply from 5,000-10,000 VND / kg compared to the beginning of the January crop year.
According to Binh, in order to prevent losses when prices fluctuate, businesses need to calculate carefully before signing large contracts, especially long-term contracts because prices may continue to rise in the near future. next.
The risk from … pepper mix
The current situation of cheating business has led the pepper industry to face many risks in international trade. According to Binh, many businesses are now buying ground pepper to make export goods. This will be a major barrier in trade if foreign partners find out. Specifically, Mr. Binh explained the process of “mixing soil” as follows: “Many farmers dried the pepper too dry (only about 10 moisture – PV), while the standard of moisture of pepper that businesses buy. at 13-15 degrees, then farmers will use quite fresh pepper and cover the surrounding soil to mix with the pepper is too dry to have enough degree to sell ”.
Not only “mixing soil”, the addition of leaves, peppercorns is also used by many farmers and businesses.
Mr. Nguyen Ba Thinh – a typical farmer of Binh Phuoc province is annoyed: “Many businesses, middlemen come to our place to produce to gather goods, then our eyes see these units mix more dry leaves, peppercorns, or badly consumed pepper … to be sold It is recommended that VPA must strictly control this issue, if not only affecting Vietnam's pepper industry, but also pushing the responsibility of poor quality production for pepper farmers. ”
Mr. Do Ha Nam said: “In the Central Highlands provinces, the soil has a high metal content so when mixing it into pepper for export, many foreign partners will easily find out and thereby return the goods or price. Vietnamese brand of pepper is also affected a lot. ”
Follow Quoc Hai (Dan Viet newspaper)
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