Pepper exports nothing to sneeze at

Hanoi (VNA) - Black pepper exporters shipped more than 27,000 tonnes in the first
quarter of the year, worth nearly 66 million USD, an increase of 79.7 percent in
volume and 16 percent in value over the same period last year, according to the
Vietnam Pepper Association.

The enormous increase in export volume made up for declining prices on the world
market to produce the more modest rise in export value during the period, the
association explained. The price of pepper at the start of the year stood at
around 31,000 VND (1.75 USD) per kilo. This rose to around 34,000 VND (1.90 USD) in
late January - early February, before prices plunged again in mid-February to around
28,000 VND (1.60 USD).

Prices had remained depressed since due to the global recession, said association
secretary Tran Duc Tung, with pepper growers seeing margins decline by 40 percent
since 2008.

"Costs of materials, labour and interest have all risen, while farmers are
selling at a cheaper price," Tung said, noting that companies that had large
amounts of pepper stockpilled had also accepted small returns on their investment
and sold out, rather than waiting for prices to go back up. However, production
volumes were up.

"This year's crop yields have fallen but the area under cultivation has
increased, so overall yields are up," said Tung.

The association has estimated that 2009 yields would increase by 4,000 tonnes over
2008's crop, to a total of 95,000 tonnes.-Enditem