According to preliminary statistics of Vietnam Pepper Association (VPA), cinnamon exports in June reached 11,333 tonnes of cinnamon with a turnover of more than 30.6 million USD, an increase of 1.4% over the previous month.
By the end of June 2024, Vietnam exported 44,528 tonnes of cinnamon with a total export turnover of 126.9 million USD, compared to the same period in 2023, export volume increased by 3.9% but turnover decreased by 1.8%. India is the main export market for Vietnamese cinnamon, accounting for 33.5%, reaching 15,040 tonnes.
India imports about 11-12 million tonnes of spices each year. Of which, Vietnam is the largest cinnamon supplier to this market. In 2022-2023 fiscal year alone, Vietnam exported 32,650 tonnes of cinnamon, accounting for 85% of India's cinnamon imports.
According to assessments, Vietnamese cinnamon is popular in India due to its good essential oil content and characteristic flavor. Currently, India imports cinnamon from Vietnam for two purposes, including processing for domestic consumption and processing for export.
Not only possessing cinnamon trees, Ministry of Industry and Trade said that on the world medicinal herbs map, Vietnam is assessed to have a diverse source of medicinal herbs, proportion of rare natural medicinal herbs is still quite rich. According to statistics, Vietnam currently has over 5,100 species of medicinal plants, with great potential and advantages to develop medicinal plants into an economic sector.
Cinnamon essential oil industry has great potential for development, because demand for cinnamon essential oil in the world is very high, always does not meed demand and cinnamon trees are only commonly grown in a few Asian countries.
Experts also believe that, within next 10 years, the world organic spice market will grow at least 4.6% per year and reach a total value of 15 billion USD. In cinnamon market alone, from now until 2025, average annual growth will be 14%. This is clearly a great opportunity for Vietnam as cinnamon is a very popular spice in many countries.
According to statistics, cinnamon growing area in Vietnam is up to 180,000 hectares in the northern mountainous provinces and the North Central region.
Notably, cinnamon trees are commonly grown in Vietnam but very few countries in the world can grow them. Other countries that can grow cinnamon trees include China, Laos, Myanmar, India, Sri Lanka and some countries in South America.
Cinnamon's scientific name is Cinnamomum loureirii Nees; family Lauraceae. The tree is large, 10 - 20m high, with cracked outer bark and many branches. The tree grows wild in forest or is planted by seeds or cuttings. It can be harvested after 5 years, but the best time to peel cinnamon bark is after 20 - 30 years. Peeling cinnamon bark in April - May or September - October is easier because this is stage when cinnamon produces resin.
Normally, in low cinnamon forests, people can harvest after only 3-5 years. However, for high-quality products, cinnamon tree must be over 15 years old. All parts of cinnamon tree such as bark, leaves, flowers, wood, and roots can be used. But people mainly harvest cinnamon bark, cinnamon branches or leaves to dry or extract essential oils.
Vietnam's cinnamon bark reserves are estimated at about 900,000 - 1,200,000 tonnes, with an average harvest of 70,000 - 80,000 tonnes/year. Vietnam is also the world's number 1 cinnamon exporter with a turnover of over 292 million USD in 2022.

Source: Vitic/ congthuong.vn