Pepper exports hit record high

Vietnam exported 58,000 tonnes of pepper in the first seven months of this year, earning US$202 million, according to a report from the General Statistics Office.

The report noted that pepper exports increased by 14.8 percent in volume and 31.6 percent in value over the same period last year.

The average export price of US$3,300 per tonne is US$100 higher than 2007’s figure, the Vietnam Pepper Association’s Chairman Do Ha Nam said, adding that the prices may decrease in the second half of this year when Indonesia, Malaysia, Brazil and Sri Lanka harvest their crops.

He also said that India and Vietnam, the two largest pepper exporters in the world, have already harvested 86,000 tonnes and 50,000 tonnes, respectively this year and expressed his hope that Vietnam will export 80,000 tonnes of pepper in 2008, representing a 35 percent share of the world’s pepper market and earning around US$290 million. (VOV)