Farmers picking pepper in Cư Kuin District (Đắk Lắk Province). - baodaklak.vn
HANOI (Vietnam News/Asia News Network): Crop failures have dented pepper production, leading to an increase of nearly 7 per cent in pepper imports in the first four months.
Specifically, Vietnam imported 12,105 tonnes of pepper during the period, of which 10,456 tonnes was black pepper and 1,649 tonnes white pepper.
Cambodia became the largest pepper exporter to Vienam with 4,709 tonnes. Brazil came next with 3,915 tonnes and Indonesia next with 1,855 tonnes.
Indonesia was also the largest supplier of white pepper to the country with 1,493 tonnes.
According to the Vietnam Pepper Association (VPA), mounting pepper import can be attributed to recent crop failures, which drove domestic pepper production down to 165,000-175,000 tonnes, 10-15 per cent less than last year.
The contracting production left Vietnamese firms no choice but to purchase foreign peppers to make up for the shortfall, driving up pepper imports.
Lê Thị
