Pepper price jumps more than 50%

The price of pepper exports in the first quarter jumped by 53.8 per cent over the same period last year to reach nearly US$4,800 per tonne, said head of the Information and Statistics Centre under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Viet Chien.

Thanks to this sharp increase, pepper export value in the first quarter hit $85 million, matching last year's figure.

"The same value was hit despite the fact that the total export volume in Q1 was only 18,000 tonnes, 25 per cent less than last year," Chien said.

In March alone, pepper exports reached 8,000 tonnes, worth $38 million.

According to the Viet Nam Pepper Association, domestic pepper production has developed strongly, and signs of a high yield harvest are evident this year.

The association added that pepper crops in Tay Nguyen (Central Highland) provinces had recovered following last year's drought, saying that the total pepper exported this year could increase by 5 per cent.

Around 60 per cent of the world's pepper is grown in Viet Nam, and the US, Germany and Holland are the three largest importers.

Last year, the country exported nearly 117,000 tonnes of pepper, worth $421 million. The numbers were up by 20.3 per cent in value but down by 13 per cent in volume compared with 2009.

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