The pepper price on Tuesday is at VNĐ98,000 per kilo in Đắk Lắk Province, and VNĐ97,000 in Gia Lai and Đắk Nông provinces. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Pepper prices are forecast to soon exceed VNĐ100,000 per kilo in the domestic market.

Recently, pepper prices have skyrocketed. Experts said this price increase is related to the strong increase in coffee prices in the past months.

Specifically, in the Central Highlands, Việt Nam's large pepper production region, the pepper price on Tuesday is at VNĐ98,000 per kilo in Đắk Lắk Province, and VNĐ97,000 in Gia Lai and Đắk Nông provinces.

In the southeast region, the pepper price is at VNĐ96,500 per kilo in Đồng Nai Province, and VNĐ98,000 in Bình Phước and Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu provinces.

The domestic pepper price has increased continuously in the last week after steadily decreasing in the previous week. Last week, the pepper prices rose by VNĐ7,500-9,000 per kilo, the Công thương (Industry and Trade) newspaper reported.

Rising world demand helped Vietnamese pepper prices recover strongly last week.

Meanwhile, Brazil and Indonesia will have no more supply until August. The pepper prices of Brazil and Indonesia are now higher than Vietnamese pepper, so the price increase potential of Vietnamese pepper is still very high.

According to the General Department of Customs, pepper exports in the first half of April 2024 reached 13,467 tonnes, worth nearly US$58.47 million, up 15.4 per cent in volume and 16.1 per cent in value compared to the same period last month. The exports decreased 1.6 per in volume year on year, but increased sharply by 40.1 per cent in value.

In the first four months of 2024, the pepper exports reached 70,248 tonnes, worth more than $294 million, down 21.8 per cent in volume, but up 7 per cent in value compared to the same period in 2023.

The average export price of pepper in the first half of April stood at $4,342 per tonne, up 0.8 per cent compared to that in March.

So far in 2024, the average export price of pepper reached $4,189 tonne, an increase of 36.8 per cent over the same period in 2023.

The Việt Nam Pepper and Spice Association (VPSA) said that the recent increase in pepper prices is due to low supply, high price of US dollar, and conflicts in the world making transportation difficult. In addition, speculation is another reason for the increase.

The experts said that coffee and pepper are often grown in alternating areas. Due to recent dry and hot weather in key growing areas, many pepper plants died. The harsh weather also affects coffee trees, causing lower supply, so coffee and pepper prices both increase.

The association said Việt Nam is still the largest producer and exporter of pepper in the world. However, the area and output of Vietnamese pepper are decreasing due to high competition and market fluctuations that create favourable conditions for development of other crops such as coffee and durian. That makes the pepper supply decrease, while pepper demand increases, so the pepper prices are up. — VNS