Weekly Publications

MARKET REPORT

Market this week showed mixed response with a rather negative outlook with India, Malaysia and Sri Lanka recorded deficit. In local market, Malabar black pepper was traded with 1% deficit as compared to the previous week with an average of USD 4,626 per Mt. Indonesia black and white pepper was reported stable with an average of USD 1,895 per Mt for black pepper and USD 2,329 per Mt for white pepper. Malaysia black pepper was reported with 7% deficit as opposed to the previous week averaging at USD 2,103 per Mt. Furthermore, Malaysian white pepper was also reported 4% deficit as compared to the previous week with an average of USD 3,690 per Mt. The decrease in Malaysia pepper price locally was contributed to the weakening of the Malaysian Ringgit against US Dollar. Viet Nam Black and white pepper were reported stable and unchanged. Sri Lanka black pepper was reported with decrease by 2% as compared to the previous week averaging at USD 2,463 per Mt while China white pepper was reported stable with an average of USD 4,783 per Mt.

Similar decrease was reported in the international market. FOB price India black pepper was traded with a 1% deficit as compared to the previous week with an average of USD 4,904 per Mt. Indonesia black and white pepper was reported steady and unchanged averaging at USD 2,329 per Mt and USD 4,023 per Mt respectively. Contrary to the farm gate price, Malaysia FOB prices for black and white pepper were reported stable and unchanged. Furthermore, Viet Nam black pepper 500 g/l, 550 g/l and Viet Nam white pepper were also reported stable with unchanged average as last week. China white pepper was also reported stable averaging at USD 4,983 per Mt.

IMPORT OF PEPPER BY TAIWAN

Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a state in East Asia which actively import pepper from various pepper producing countries for domestic consumption. In 2017, Taiwan was reported to have imported a total 3,315 Mt of pepper which 97% or 3,201 Mt of it comprised of whole pepper while 3% or 114 Mt of it was ground pepper. The average import by Taiwan in 2017 was reported to be 276 Mt per month with the highest quantity recorded in November with 469 Mt. The total expenditure of pepper import by Taiwan amounted to USD 21.9 Million, recording an average price of the total pepper imported by Taiwan at USD 6,455 per Mt for whole pepper and 11,588 per Mt for ground pepper.

2018 pepper import by Taiwan slightly increased by 1% as compared to the previous year totalling at 3,354 Mt which comprised of 3,227 Mt of whole pepper and 127 Mt of ground pepper. The average pepper import by Taiwan was reported at 280 Mt per month which peaked in October with 366 Mt. Although increasing in term of quantity, the pepper import by Taiwan decreased by 31% in term of value and amounted to USD 15.1 Million. The average price of the total pepper imported by Taiwan was reported to be at USD 4,263 per Mt for whole pepper and USD 10,556 per Mt for ground pepper which meant a loss of 34% and 9% respectively as compared to the previous year.

Pepper import by Taiwan as of April 2019 was reported with an increase of 50% as compared with the same period in 2018, totalling at 1,255 Mt which comprised of 1,232 Mt of whole pepper and 24 Mt of ground pepper. The total expenditure of pepper imports by Taiwan as of April 2019 recorded a slight increase by 1% as compared to the same period on the previous year, totalling at USD 4.7 Million.

The top five countries of origins of Taiwan pepper both for whole and ground as of April 2019 were reported to be Malaysia with 482 Mt (an increase of 51% as compared with the same period in 2018), Indonesia with 431 Mt (an increase of 85%), Viet Nam with 297 Mt (an increase of 26%), Cambodia with 15 Mt (previous year did not export to Taiwan) and China with 13 Mt (an increase of 208%). The significant increase of Taiwan import from China could be contributed that Taiwan started to shift from India (a decrease by 75% as compared with the same period in 2018).