China is a country with significant annual pepper production, mainly grown on Hainan Island, a southernmost province. However, China still imports a significant amount of pepper every year to meet the consumption needs of more than 1.4 billion people in the country.
Known as a white pepper producer, not only for domestic consumption, China also became a home Export white pepper to the global consumer market. However, the volume of imported pepper is still more than that of exported pepper.
Chinese map of pepper imported in the last 3 years. Source – IPC
According to data from the International Pepper Community (IPC), in the past 3 years China has imported pepper as follows:
– In 2016, China imported a total of 4,488 tons of pepper of all kinds, including 4,021 tons of pepper and 467 tons of ground pepper, with a total import value of USD 44.85 million. The average import price was 9,932 USD / ton of pepper and 10,518 USD / ton of ground pepper.
– In 2017, the report showed that China imported all kinds of pepper down 14% from the previous year. Therefore, the data recorded a total of 3,850 tons, including 3,212 tons of pepper and 638 tons of ground pepper, with a total import value of 25.79 million USD. Although the volume decreased, the value of turnover decreased even more, showing that China spent 42% less in buying pepper. The average import price dropped to US $ 6,459 per ton of pepper and US $ 7,901 per ton of ground pepper.
– In 2018, China was reported to increase imports pepper with a surge in volume to more than 2,000 tons of all kinds of pepper, an increase of 53% compared to 2017. It is recognized that China has imported a total of 5,872 tons of pepper, including 5,270 tons of pepper. Correspondingly, China spent a total of 27.47 million USD on importing pepper, recording an increase of 7% in value over the previous year. Average import price continued to decrease to USD 4,413 / ton of pepper and 7,004 USD / ton of ground pepper.
According to IPC, China imported pepper in 2018 mainly from leading pepper producing countries. Statistical data shows that 10 major pepper exporters to China are Malaysia with 2,684 tons, accounting for 46% of the import pepper volume. Followed by Indonesia with 1,077 tons, Vietnam 830 tons, Brazil 582 tons, India 215 tons, Sri Lanka 158 tons, Hong Kong 123 tons, Singapore 41 tons, Italy 36 tons and the United States 34 tons.
It is known that most pepper Vietnam exports to China by border trade, so it is often not reported or monitored by Customs.
