On average, in the first 4 months of 2019, the export price of pepper reached 2621.12 USD per ton, down by 25.87 per cent over the same period last year.

The export price of pepper declined, but Vietnam's pepper exports continued to grow. According to the preliminary statistics figures from the General Department of Customs, Vietnam’s pepper exports in April of 2019 reached 37,305 tons, an increase of 2,036 tons, or an increase of 5.77 per cent over the previous month and of 10,472 tons, or 39, 03 per cent compared to the same period last year. The pepper export turnover in the period reached 94.14 million USD, an increase of 8.96 million USD, or an increase of 10.49 per cent compared to the same period last year - this was the second consecutive month that the pepper exports increased in both volume and turnover.

The country’s total pepper exports in the first 4 months of 2019 reached 108,195 tons, an increase of 21,485 tons, or 24.78 per cent compared to the first 4 months of 2018. However, the pepper export turnover in the first 4 months of 2019 reached a total of 283.59 million USD, down by 23.02 million USD or 7.51 per cent over the same period last year.

Regarding the export markets, in the first 4 months of 2019, Vietnam's pepper was mainly exported to markets such as the U.S, India, Pakistan and UAE. The U.S was leading with 18.6 million tons, and it was followed by India, Pakistan and the UAE. Although the export volume was high, the average price declined, so the turnover from these markets has decreased compared to the same period last year, in which the biggest decrease was in the Pakistan market – decreased by 24.89 per cent, and then India - fell by 20.91 per cent, the UAE – fell by 16.38 per cent and finally the US - fell by 6.48 per cent.

To avoid dependence on the key markets, the pepper exporters have recently come to the emerging markets such as Saudi Arabia with an export volume of over 1.4 million tons, worth of over 3.6 million USD; Senegal – 1,300 tons worth of 3.12 million USD, Algeria - 361 tons; Sri Lanka - 150 tons.

Notably, the Polish and Korean markets increased the imports of pepper from Vietnam with the import value increase of 39.72 per cent and 34.26 per cent, respectively, reaching 795 tons and 2,400 tons.