Vietnam is estimated to have shipped only 58,000 tons of pepper in the first eight months of 2007, down 42.6 per cent on year, the General Statistics Office showed.
Despite the fall in shipment volume, the country raked in US$178 million in Jan-Aug, a rise of 20.3 per cent on year, mostly thanks to high export price.
Export price of pepper ranged from US$3,000-4,000 per ton on the world market due to thin supply caused by unfavorable weather conditions in large pepper-exporting countries like India, Brazil, Malaysia, China and Vietnam.
According to estimation by the International Pepper Council (IPC), the world is facing the limited supply of pepper as supply is predicted to be 329,000 tons while the demand is 376,500 tons.
India is now the world’s largest pepper grower with 230,000 hectares, but its output is predicted at only 55,000 tons in the 2006-07 crops.
Vietnam, having only 49,000 hectares, is now taking lead in the world in pepper output with 90,000-95,000 tons this year.
The country now is home to 11 pepper processing factories, but only 6 of them are installed with high-tech facilities.
Currently, nearly 50 enterprises in Vietnam are engaging in exporting pepper. Some 38 per cent of Vietnamese pepper comes to EU market, 12 per cent to the US and 12 per cent to Africa countries.
Last year, Vietnam shipped 118,000 tons of pepper abroad, earning US$195 million.
The Vietnamese government recently approved a plan to boost pepper export value to USUS$240 million by 2010 and USUS$280 million by 2020. (GSO Aug Edition, Vietnam Economic Times)