Vietnam pepper exports gained 1,26 billion USD in 2015

In 2015, Vietnam exported 135.000 tons of pepper, crossed 1,26 billion USD. These numbers are 13% lower in volume and 5% higher in value compared to those in 2014. It is also the highest turnover ever for Vietnam pepper exports. The average export price of pepper reached 9.335 USD/tone and saw a 21,5 % increase compared to the same period in 2014.

A farmer is harvesting pepper

Vietnam pepper now makes its appearance in 100 countries and territories. The biggest pepper export markets of Vietnam are the Unites States, United Arab Emirates and Singapore with nearly 36% market share. Other main markets with rapid rise in value are Germany (almost 36%), Korea (33%), Spain (over 31%) and British (30%). In spite of being the market dominance for many consecutive years, Vietnam pepper industry still has some unstable factors and risk of unsustainable development. Recently, many localities have increased pepper area. People there have cut down other crops to plant pepper which breaks pepper’s industry plan.

In the plan for the development of Vietnam pepper to 2020 and oriented to 2030 of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the national area of pepper remains stable at 50.000 hectares and the production reaches 140.000 tons/ year. But now, the area of pepper just reaches nearly 86.000 hectares. Although there is no complete statistic, the national area of pepper is predicted to surpass 100.000 hectares. According to experts, this increase will lead to many problems, especially the massive production will make the world supply redundant and Vietnam pepper will face many risks in consumption.

There are some suggestions that if the pepper industry wants to maintain its top position, the area need to be controlled in the long term. Besides, there are needs to strengthen deep processing, diversify product using advanced technology, focus on enhancing quality and ensure food safety to meet the increasingly stringent requirements of the market. In order to achieve this, the Plant Protection Department has to explicitly remove some pesticides containing chemical composition which is not allowed in pepper importers, especially some active ingredients such as carbendazim, cypermethrin, metalaxyl. Finally, the GAP process for pepper should be completed soon and there needs to be some training to guide farmers to practice clean production to meet the requirements of the import market.

Hung Nguyen

Source: baobinhphuoc.com.vn