Pepper export: Stressed supply
According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the volume of pepper exported in the first 7 months of the year has increased by 22.8% in volume compared to the same period last year. However, in the remaining 5 months of 2013, pepper supply is forecast to be very tight.
The average export price of pepper from the beginning of the year to now has decreased by 4% compared to the same period in 2012. Vietnam's pepper export markets in the past 7 months have been concentrated in Europe (34%), Asia 35%, America 22%, Africa 9%.
Production decline alarm
According to a survey by the Department of Crop Production, the average pepper yield has now decreased to 2.4 tons/ha.
According to the Vietnam Pepper Association (VPA), the country's pepper output in the 2013 crop year reached about 95,000 tons, down about 15% compared to the 2012 crop year, and up to now, the country only has 15,000 tons for export. For many years, Vietnam has been the world's largest pepper exporting powerhouse, but the pepper industry still faces a paradox: the area increases but the output decreases.
In 2011, the country had 53,000 hectares of pepper, with an output of 125,000 tons; in 2012, it reached 57,500 hectares, with an output of 115,000 tons; in 2013, the pepper growing area increased to 60,000 hectares, but the output decreased to only 94,000 tons. Pepper currently accounts for only 2.5% of the total area of nearly 2 million hectares of 5 industrial crops in our country, but accounts for over 8% of the export value. The economic value of pepper is currently about 6,800 USD/ha/year, 4 times higher than rubber, 8 times higher than cashew nuts, 2.6 times higher than coffee and 6 times higher than tea. Each hectare of pepper can earn a profit of 200 - 250 million VND/year.
Because pepper cultivation is very profitable, many farmers in the Central Highlands have recently cut down coffee and cashew trees to switch to pepper cultivation. What is worrying is that many farmers also grow pepper varieties of unknown origin, leading to the risk of spreading diseases and causing damage.
A survey by the Department of Crop Production shows that the average pepper yield has now dropped to only 2.4 tons/ha (in 2010 it was 3-3.5 tons/ha). Dong Nai is the province with the largest additional planting area, an increase of about 1,000ha compared to 2011, but the yield has dropped from more than 2 tons/ha in 2011 to 1.4 tons/ha in 2013. In Ba Ria-Vung Tau, the average yield has also dropped, to only 1.72 tons/ha...
What is the solution for export?
According to VPA, pepper prices at trading floors in India and import prices in Europe and America are increasing again. The reason is that the supply of major pepper producing countries in the world such as Vietnam and India is not much left. Meanwhile, countries such as Malaysia and Indonesia are in the pepper harvesting stage and also have modest output.
Currently, foreign traders are increasing their purchases of pepper for speculation. Vietnamese enterprises should not rush to sign export contracts without having the goods in hand, because there is a risk that pepper prices will increase beyond the price that the enterprises have signed.
VPA recommends
VPA believes that pepper prices will continue to increase sharply in the coming time, because there are only about 15,000 tons of pepper left in stock domestically, and currently, foreign traders are pouring into Vietnam to buy pepper.
While supply in many major producing countries has decreased, global demand for pepper is still increasing, which is expected to create unpredictable developments in the export market, and pepper prices in the last months of the year will be surprising.
VPA recommends: Enterprises need to be extremely careful in signing export contracts regarding quantity, delivery time, price, payment method, etc. to avoid the phenomenon of "reneging" on contracts, "reneging" on payments, leading to lawsuits in which the risks and losses often belong to Vietnamese enterprises.
According to danviet -PH
