Pepper price today August 12, 2024: Continuing to increase, an opportunity for Vietnamese pepper to increase market share, consolidate its position in key markets. (Source: AdobeStock)

Pepper price today, August 12, 2024, in the domestic market continued to increase in key localities, trading from 141,000 - 142,000 VND/kg.

Specifically, pepper price today in Gia Lai is at 142,000 VND/kg.

Pepper prices today in the provinces of Dong Nai (141,000 VND/kg); Dak Lak (142,000 VND/kg); Dak Nong (142,000 VND/kg); Ba Ria - Vung Tau (141,500 VND/kg) and Binh Phuoc (141,000 VND/kg).

Thus, continuing yesterday's increase, domestic pepper prices increased today in key localities, with a slight increase of VND500/kg. This is the third consecutive day of increase in the market. The highest pepper price is at VND142,000/kg.

Last week, domestic pepper prices decreased by an average of 5,000 VND/kg.

Mr. Le Duc Huy, General Director of Dak Lak 2/9 Import-Export Company Limited - Simexco, said that Vietnam's inventory is about 30%, equivalent to 50,000 - 55,000 tons.

The Import-Export Department believes that the Vietnamese pepper industry will benefit from price in the coming time due to scarce supply. This could also open up opportunities for Vietnam to increase its market share and further consolidate its position in key markets such as the US, China and Europe.

However, Mr. Huy commented that in the first half of this year, Vietnam's traditional purchasing markets imported a large amount of pepper. This means that they are not in a hurry to buy more goods and are waiting. Therefore, he said that although the shortage of supply continues, pepper prices will hardly increase as sharply as at the beginning of the year.

According to the summary of the Vietnam Pepper and Spice Association (VPSA), the average domestic pepper price in July 2024 reached 150,000 VND/kg, an increase of 82.9% compared to January and an increase of 120.6% compared to the same period in 2023. On average, the price of black pepper in the first 7 months of 2024 increased by 66.5% compared to 2023.

Meanwhile, the export price of black pepper in June 2024 reached 5,067 USD/ton, up 31.6% compared to January, reaching 3,851 USD/ton. On average, the export price of black pepper increased by 17.1% over the same period last year. Shortage of supply due to reduced harvest output in Vietnam and Brazil was the main reason for the increase in pepper prices in the second quarter of 2024.

The Association’s survey of the current situation in three Central Highlands provinces in early July showed that farmers’ maintenance and production of pepper is increasingly being competed by durian and coffee. New planting areas have been recorded but not much, mainly intercropping pepper with coffee at a ratio of 6-2.

The association believes that the next crop's output may be equivalent or slightly higher than in 2024. There is not much inventory left in the market, pests and diseases still exist but are not significant, and people can handle some common diseases such as yellow leaves, slow death, stink bugs, algae spots, and nematodes.