A pepper garden in the Highland region. The export prices of Vietnamese black pepper were between US$6,000-6,500 per tonne. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — The pepper prices on July 18 in some key pepper producers of Việt Nam continue to be under downward pressure, reaching the lowest price of VNĐ147,000 (US$5.79) per kilo.

In the Central Highlands region, the pepper price in Đắk Lắk is VNĐ149,000 per kilo, while the pepper price in Gia Lai decreased by VNĐ1,000 per kilo to VNĐ147,000.

In the Southeast region, the price in Bà Rịa - Vũng Tàu and Đồng Nai continues to decrease by VNĐ1,000 to VNĐ148,000 per kilo. Meanwhile, the pepper price is stable at VNĐ148,000 per kilo in Bình Phước.

As Công thương (Industry and Trade) Magazine reported, some industry experts believe that the market does not have new motivation to push pepper prices up. However, the domestic pepper price has formed a new rate, which is difficult to decrease further compared to the current price.

In the short term, the pepper market is less energised, mainly because domestic coffee prices are rising again, causing capital flows to shift to coffee trading.

Hoàng Phước Bình, standing vice chairman of Chư Sê Pepper Association (Gia Lai Province), said the average production cost of pepper is currently fluctuating VNĐ60,000 - VNĐ70,000 per kilo due to higher material costs and other costs. Thus, the current selling price is more than double the production cost, helping pepper growers make a large profit. Therefore, many pepper growers are not in a hurry to sell their goods, unless they need the capital.

Currently, many pepper growers expect that the low supply at present will push pepper prices back up soon.

Many industry experts have predicted that pepper prices in the future may break the peak of VNĐ250,000 per kilo - the highest level of the pepper price cycle ten years ago.

According to the Vietnam Pepper Association, the current price level of Vietnamese pepper is still quite low compared to the price of pepper in other major producing countries. Therefore, the increase in Vietnamese pepper prices is still relatively large.

In addition, Việt Nam's pepper export to China in the second quarter of 2024 was lower than expectations. So, some businesses predict purchasing demand from China to gradually increase again from the third quarter of 2024 for the needs of the year-end festivals. This is expected to push pepper prices up in the last months of the year.

On the world market, the International Pepper Association (IPC) updated pepper prices on July 17 (local time). The prices of Vietnamese black pepper were arranged between US$6,000-$6,500 per tonne. Vietnamese white pepper price was kept stable at $8,800 per tonne.

Indonesia's pepper prices increased again by 0.46 per cent to $7,223 per tonne of Lampung black pepper and $9,196 per tonne of Muntok white pepper.

Brazilian ASTA 570 black pepper price was kept stable at $7,125 per tonne.

Malaysia's ASTA black pepper price was also unchanged at $7,500 per tonne, while the price of ASTA white pepper stood at $8,800 per tonne. — VNS