The average export price in the first months of 2018 was $3,692 per ton, or 41.6 percent lower than 2017.

Chair of the Vietnam Pepper Association (VPA) Nguyen Nam Hai said the pepper trade remains busy. However, importers have tried to force the prices down, expecting an increased growing area in Vietnam and predicting a high pepper output this year.

Now in the peak harvest season, farmers are rushing to sell pepper to pay bank debt.

Challenging time ahead

Willem Van Walt Meijer, general director of Nedspice Vietnam, said the price won’t improve in the time to come, but may even decrease in the coming years.

This has prompted Nedspice to join forces with thousands of pepper growing households iN Binh Phuoc and Ba Ria-Vung Tau provinces to make clean products which can satisfy choosy markets willing to pay for high-quality products.

The oversupply in the world market has created stronger competition among pepper exporters. Vietnam’s rival Brazil has low production costs thanks to abundant and cheap land.

The pepper output and inventory level around the world is on the rise, while emerging export countries are trying to expand growing areas and increase exports at competitive prices.

Cambodia has also been increasing its pepper growing area and is forecast to rank fourth or fifth among the world’s biggest exporters in the future.

source:vietnamnet