HCM City (VNS/VNA)
- Pepper exporters need to adapt to the rapid and unpredictable
developments in global trade, tapping markets with room for growth and
enhancing product quality to maintain competitiveness, a conference
heard in Ho Chi Minh City late last week.
Speaking at the 2025
Annual Public-Private Partnership Group Conference organised by the
Vietnam Pepper and Spice Association, Le Viet Anh, the VPSA’s chief of
office, reported that in the first quarter Vietnam exported 39,853
tonnes of black pepper and 7,807 tonnes of white pepper for 326.6
million USD.
It represented a 16.1% drop in volume but a 38.6% jump in value year-on-year on the back of soaring global prices.
The US remained Vietnam’s largest buyer despite a 32.6% drop in volume to 10,278 tonnes, accounting for 25% of export value.
Other top markets included India (3,370 tonnes, down 11.2%), Germany
(3,358 tonnes, down 9.3%), and the UAE (2,757 tonnes, up 15.2%).
Shipments to China jumped by 87.8% to 2,034 tonnes.
According to the association, the industry is facing significant
headwinds, especially the US’s imposition of a 10% tariff and a 46%
reciprocal tariff on certain Vietnamese goods.
Vietnam has a 90-day negotiation window during which Washington will not impose the reciprocal tariffs.
VPSA Chairwoman Hoang Thi Lien said: “Businesses are cautious and
holding off major export decisions while awaiting the outcome of the
negotiations.
“If the negotiations fail to bring down tariffs,
Vietnamese exporters could lose market share in the US to Brazil and
Indonesia.
“The pepper industry is hoping that the Government
will negotiate to reduce the reciprocal tariffs to the lowest possible
levels.”
She urged businesses to maximise delivery during the
90-day grace period and proactively explore alternative markets like
Europe, Asia and the Middle East.
“If, after negotiations, the
countervailing tariffs on Vietnamese pepper remain higher than those of
competitors, Vietnam’s market share in the US will likely shrink.”
The VPSA said total pepper imports of European countries in 2024
increased by 20% compared to 2023 to 120,657 tonnes. Vietnam's share of
pepper exports to Europe also steadily increased over the years, rising
from 44.6% in 2022 to 51.1% in 2023 and 52.1% in 2024.
It noted
that the EU remains a highly demanding market with stringent quality,
traceability and technical compliance requirements, especially for
premium products like white and organic pepper, meaning Vietnamese
exporters must constantly improve their quality.
Sustainability and public-private cooperation
Huynh Tien Dung, country director of IDH Vietnam (Initiative for
Sustainable Trade in Vietnam), highlighted the joint efforts made by the
Public-Private Partnership Working Group on Pepper and Spices in the
past year for supporting sustainable pepper and spices production.
This year marks the conclusion of the group’s 2021–2025 strategic
phase, during which progress has been made in improving farming
practices, building farmer capacity, fostering dialogue between public
and private sectors, and strengthening ties with international industry
associations like the European Spice Association and the American Spice
Trade Association, he said.
Looking ahead, the pepper sector
faces ongoing risks, from inflation and geopolitical instability to
increasing market demands for transparency, traceability and sustainable
practices, trends that make it more important than ever to reinforce
cooperation frameworks and develop a resilient strategy for 2026–2030,
he said.
He shared IDH's vision for the next strategic phase:
boosting commercial value through quality improvement, traceability and
income diversification, particularly by promoting intercropping of
pepper and coffee in the Central Highlands. It also aims to stabilise
smallholder livelihoods by integrating sustainable production systems
and expanding market and financial access, enhance environmental
resilience by promoting regenerative agriculture, increasing carbon
absorption, improving biodiversity, and enabling more accurate emissions
tracking across pepper–coffee intercropping systems./.
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