(August 21) – According to market reports, pepper production in Lampung and Bangka, the two main pepper growing regions of Indonesia, has decreased significantly this year.
In Lampung, the harvest of the new season pepper started in early July, in line with the annual season. However, because pepper farmers often pick and choose because of unequal aging of the fruit, the harvest schedule is as long as in other pepper growing countries, although the output is much lower.
Many pepper farmers said that this year quite a lot of pepper gardens were scratched due to continuous rain at the time of flowering last year. The pepper growing areas of North Lampung are assessed to have a much lower yield than East Lampung, even only 20% of the average annual output.
A recent report of the International Pepper Community (IPC) also estimates that Indonesia’s pepper production this year is only about 58-60,000 tons, down from 70-72,000 tons last year.
The price of domestic bucket pepper in Bangka is often very different from the price of bucket pepper in Lampung.
Last week, Indonesian black pepper was offered at 3,980 – 4,030 USD/ton, delivered at Lampung port, the price was relatively stable.
It is known that in the last two years, Vietnam has attracted 35% of pepper exports from Indonesia, becoming the largest importer, while the US only accounts for 16% and followed by India. Total exports in 2016 totaled 53,100 tons of pepper of all kinds, down from 58,075 tons of 2015.
Indonesian farmers usually sell pepper right after the harvest. They do not have the habit of storing pepper like farmers in other pepper growing countries, perhaps because the output per household is not much.
Note: This article has references to IPC Weekly Report.
Follow Anh Van (giacaphe.vn)
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