Positive signals from Vietnam's trade negotiations in the U.S. have supported market recovery. Domestically, the pepper harvest is in its final stages.

The increase follows positive developments from Deputy Prime Minister Hồ Đức Phớc’s working trip to the U.S. During the visit, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Environment Hoàng Trung proposed that the U.S. Department of Agriculture exempt certain essential, non-competing agricultural and seafood products — including pepper — from tariffs.

Harvest Update:
The harvest season is wrapping up, starting from Southeast provinces like Đồng Nai, Bà Rịa - Vũng Tàu, and Bình Phước, then moving to the Central Highlands and Central Vietnam. In Đắk Lắk's Cư Kuin district, a key pepper-growing area (approx. 4,649 ha, 13,000 tons/year), farmers like Mr. Phan Văn Hoàng are racing against time to complete the harvest amid unseasonal rains and labor shortages. Due to prolonged cold weather, the harvest is delayed, and wet conditions are affecting pepper quality and drying processes.

International Market Update (IPC Prices):

The International Pepper Community (IPC) has continued to lower Indonesia’s pepper prices since the beginning of the week.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, by the end of the first quarter of 2025, Vietnam had exported 47,660 tons of pepper of all kinds, of which black pepper reached 39,853 tons and white pepper reached 7,807 tons. Total export turnover reached US$326.6 million. Compared to the same period last year, the export volume decreased by 16.1 percent, but the export turnover increased by 38.6 percent. The average export price of black pepper in the first quarter reached US$6,711 a ton, up 94.9 percent and white pepper reached US$8,617 a ton, up 73.9 percent compared to the same period in 2024.

In 2025's first quarter, the US remained the largest export market for Vietnamese pepper, despite a 32.6 percent decline in import volume to 10,278 tons compared to the same period.

 

T.Huong

Source: Vitic