According to preliminary statistics from General Department of Customs, in the past 10 months alone, pepper businesses spent 108 million USD (equivalent to 2,700 billion VND) to import pepper. Compared to the same period last year, imports of this item increased sharply by 38.2%. In particular, businesses mainly imported pepper from Brazil, Indonesia and Cambodia.
On other hand, according to Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, pepper is the agricultural product with the strongest export growth in the first 10 months of 2024, reaching 1.12 billion USD, up 48% over the same period last year. Thus, after only 10 months, this industry has soon surpassed the 1 billion USD mark for the first time in 6 years.
This impressive growth comes from high pepper price due to decline in global supply while demand has recovered strongly in major markets, especially the US and European Union (EU).
Thus, although it is a country with the world's top pepper output and export, since the beginning of the year, businesses have still had to spend a large amount of money to buy this item.
Pepper is a commodity known as "black gold" of Vietnam. Currently, Vietnam holds the world's number 1 position in both production and export. Of which, Vietnam's pepper output accounts for 40% and exports account for 60% of the world market share.
However, in the past, pepper prices were very low and many farmers switched to other crops. In addition, unfavorable weather led to a sharp decline in pepper output. Therefore, businesses in this industry had to increase pepper imports from Cambodia, Brazil and Indonesia to serve production in order to consolidate the world's leading position that Vietnam has held for more than 2 decades.
"Vietnam's pepper industry is benefiting from high export prices due to limited supply. Accordingly, this year pepper farmers benefited from very high selling prices. On contrary, export enterprises could not buy much domestic pepper. This is also part of the reason why Phuc Sinh had to import a lot of pepper from Brazil and Indonesia this year. Reason is that, due to reduced output, people kept pepper for speculation. Along with that, the prolonged drought has made the domestic pepper supply increasingly difficult," said Mr. Phan Minh Thong - Chairman of the Board of Directors of Phuc Sinh Joint Stock Company.
According to forecast of Vietnam Pepper and Spice Association, global pepper prices will continue to increase in the next 10 - 15 years, with possibility of reaching a peak of 350,000 - 400,000 VND/kg. Factors such as limited pepper supply due to El Nino and demand for clean, organic pepper in developed markets are considered long-term growth drivers for the pepper industry.
For solutions and development orientations, Vietnam Pepper and Spice Association recommends that Vietnamese pepper industry focus on product quality, diversifying export markets and developing brands. Producing clean, organic pepper and signing long-term contracts with major retailers in Europe will help stabilize output and increase competitiveness of Vietnamese pepper in international market.

Source: Vitic/ congthuong.vn