Will pepper prices still stay high in the near future?

 
Although there is a downward adjustment, pepper prices are expected to remain at a high level in the near future.

In a recent report, the Import-Export Department (Ministry of Industry and Trade) forecasts that pepper prices in producing countries will continue to remain high due to increased demand, while supply from producing countries Indonesia, Brazil, Malaysia and Cambodia are not enough to compensate for the decrease in exports from Vietnam.

Currently, consumers around the world are willing to pay high prices for high quality pepper. In particular, the US, EU, Middle East markets... increase the need to import products that meet sustainability in social, environmental and economic aspects throughout the supply chain.

Meanwhile, in countries with large pepper production, Brazil has passed the harvest season, Vietnam has entered the season, while the main harvest of Indonesia and Malaysia is in July every year.

Information from the Vietnam Pepper and Spice Association (VPSA), speculation is the main reason leading to the "hot" increase in pepper prices. Vietnam's harvest is in its main season, so the phenomenon of hoarding goods pushing up prices will not likely happen in the near future.

However, pepper prices are forecast to remain high. This year, the harvest was early due to the hot weather coming early due to El Nino. Harvest is expected to end at the end of March. The actual output is lower than VPSA's expectation, estimated at only 140-150 thousand tons.

According to VPSA, Vietnam provides about 50% of global pepper output, but due to a sharp decline in area, Vietnam's pepper output in 2024 may be at its lowest level in many years.

According to Nedspice Group, the scale and timing of new export demand in Vietnam will determine the price trend in the coming months, especially China plays an important role.

Nedspice Group forecasts global pepper production to reach about 465,000 tons in 2024, down 6,000 tons compared to the previous year. In addition, global pepper consumption is expected to be at 529,000 tons, 64,000 tons higher than production. This caused inventory to drop to its lowest level in the past 6 years.

Vietnam's harvest this year according to Nedspice is about 157,000 tons, down 15% compared to the previous year. In recent years, there has been very little new pepper planting in Vietnam and many old trees. At the same time, the area of ​​pepper trees is also shrinking and being replaced by crops that bring better income such as durian.

Nedspice believes that rising pepper prices will encourage farmers to increase production, boosting pepper productivity in the coming years. However, new planting will take time to harvest, so output is unlikely to recover soon.