Pepper prices cooled down due to the lack of Chinese purchasing power

 
After increasing by more than 30% in the three months from December 2023 to February this year, black pepper prices in the domestic market have leveled off and are showing signs of cooling down.

As of the trading session on April 10, black pepper prices in the Central Highlands and Southeast regions fluctuated between 90,000 - 91,000 VND/kg, down 2,000 - 6,000 VND/kg (corresponding to 2 - 6%) compared to end of last month.

Pepper prices decreased in the context of additional supply from the 2023-2024 harvest. Meanwhile, pepper  exports   decreased significantly compared to the same period last year due to the lack of Chinese buying demand.

Preliminary statistics from the Vietnam Pepper and Spice Association (VPSA) show that Vietnam's pepper exports in March reached 25,579 tons, down 28.8% in volume over the same period last year. 2023.

Accumulated to the end of the first quarter, Vietnam exported 56,712 tons of pepper of all kinds, with a turnover of 235.6 million USD, down 26.1% in volume (equivalent to 20,015 tons) and down 0.1% in value. turnover compared to the same period last year.

In particular, exports to China - Vietnam's largest pepper consumption market last year decreased by 95.8%, reaching only 1,083 tons compared to 25,919 tons in the same period. This number is even lower than the 2,138 tons achieved in the first quarter of 2022, when China was closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This result makes China fall to 14th place in Vietnam's pepper export market in the first quarter, accounting for 1.9% market share compared to 33.8% in the same period.

This is contrary to many previous forecasts that China's demand will increase after the Lunar New Year and push pepper prices higher.

In addition to China, pepper exports to the African market also decreased by 23.1%, of which Egypt decreased by 9.7% to 1,389 tons and Senegal decreased by 38.0% to 588 tons.

However, the positive point is that  import  demand  of some other key markets is rebounding after a decline last year.

For example, the US market, Vietnam's number one pepper export market in the first quarter of the year reached 15,185 tons, an increase of 27.9% over the same period and accounting for 26.8% of the market share.

In addition, exports to India reached 3,793 tons, an increase of 19.6%; Korea reached 2,164 tons, a sharp increase of 179.9%.

Exports to Europe also increased sharply by 24.7% over the same period in 2023 and accounted for 26.3% of the market share, of which the largest export to Germany increased by 113.8% to 3,701 tons; The Netherlands increased by 76.9% to 2,598 tons; exports also increased in Russia (25.1%); France (8%); Spain (32.3%), Italy (203.6%)…

The average export price of black pepper in the first quarter reached 3,966 USD/ton, white pepper reached 5,552 USD/ton, an increase of 562 USD/ton and 593 USD/ton respectively compared to the same period in 2023.