Weekly Publications

The U.S spot market has seen very little changes over these past weeks with no significant price movement recorded due to continuous restrained of product availability. With India awaiting new crops, most of the crops would be consumed domestically. Nearing the new crop arrivals, exporters in Viet Nam experienced pressure on selling their products.

The price of black pepper at the local level this week showed a mixed response. In dollar terms, the prices of black pepper in India, Indonesia, and Viet Nam declined by 2%, 8%, and 2% respectively. The highest price decline occurred in Indonesia, recording a decline of USD 209 per MT, from USD 2,578 per MT last week to USD 2,369 per MT this week. Furthermore, the prices of black pepper in Malaysia and Sri Lanka were reported to increase by 1% and 6% respectively. In local currency, the average prices of black pepper at the farm level were reported to be IDR 34,100 per kg, VND 55,500 per Kg, RS 364 per Kg, RM 9 per Kg, and LKR 700 per Kg.

Furthermore, the price of white pepper this week was also reported to vary. In Viet Nam, the price of white pepper was reported to be stable at USD 3,741 per MT. In Indonesia, white pepper prices in dollar terms reported a 4% decline compared to last week. Whereas in Malaysia the price of white pepper experienced a 1% increase from last week. At the local level, the average price of white pepper in local currency was reported to be IDR 53,100 per Kg in Indonesia, VND 87,500 per Kg in Viet Nam, and MR 15 per Kg in Malaysia. Both local and FOB price in China were reported to record a sight decrease as compared to the opening of the week.

EXPORT OF PEPPER FROM UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (USA):
The United States of America (USA) plays an important role in the pepper trade in the world. The USA is known as one of the largest re-exporters of pepper in the world. In 2016, USA exported 14,130 MT consisting of 5,812 MT whole pepper and 8,319 MT ground pepper, with a value of USD 56 million. In 2017 USA re-exported with a total of 12,938 MT with a value of USD 57 million, recording a decline of 8% in quantity but an increase of 2% in value. Pepper exports from the USA in 2017 were still dominated by ground pepper with a ratio of 57% ground pepper and 43% whole pepper.

As of September 2018, the USA is reported to export 7,112 MT of pepper consisting of 3,429 MT whole pepper and 3,683 MT ground pepper. The export value of whole pepper in the first 9 months in 2018 was reported to be USD 10.7 million, while the value of ground pepper exports was reported to be USD 22.2 million, so the total export value in this period reached USD 33 million. Compared to the same period in 2017 the export quantity of whole pepper from the USA in 2018 declined by 15%, then the export quantity of ground pepper was also reported to have declined by 36%. In the first 9 months of 2018, the average value of pepper exports from the USA decreased by 23% compared to the pepper export value in the same period in 2017. Up to the 9th month of 2018 the main source of USA pepper has been Viet Nam. It was reported that 35,894 Mt of pepper shipped to USA froom Viet Nam which consisted of 28,541 Mt Whole and 7,353 Ground.

In 2018 pepper from USA was exported mostly to Canada with a quantity of 1,536 MT, followed by South Korea (301 MT), United Kingdom (182 MT), Mexico (174 MT), Taiwan (159 MT), Japan (155 MT), Kuwait (123 MT), Nigeria (119 MT), and other countries. Furthermore, most of the export of ground pepper from the USA was shipped to Canada with a quantity of 2,156 MT, followed by Mexico (481 MT) and other countries.