Pepper price today April 15: Decoding the No. 1 position of Vietnamese pepper

Vietnam's pepper season usually lasts from January to May every year. The earliest is in the Southeast region such as Dong Nai, Ba Ria Vung Tau, Binh Phuoc (already finished) then moves to the Central Highlands provinces (currently harvesting at the end of the season) and the Central region.

Pepper prices today, April 15, are generally between 156,000 - 157,000 VND/kg, unchanged from yesterday. This is the basic price, not including any additions or subtractions, depending on the quality of each shipment.

Compared to the beginning of last season, pepper prices are twice as high, but compared to the golden age nearly 10 years ago, pepper prices are still low. In the period 2015-2016, pepper prices were at 230,000 VND/kg when gold prices were only about 35 million VND/tael, meaning 1 ton of pepper could buy 6.5 taels of gold.

According to the Vietnam Pepper and Spice Association (VPSA), Vietnam is the world's number 1 pepper exporter with an overwhelming proportion.

In 2024, global pepper exports will reach 451,265 tons, of which Vietnam alone accounts for 250,600 tons, or more than half of the world.

A pepper garden in Dak Nong has uneven terrain so it cannot be mechanized. Pepper pickers must be skillful to protect the health of the pepper plants.

In addition to domestic raw materials, Vietnam also imports pepper from many countries for processing and re-export. As a result, Vietnam's pepper export output is often higher than domestic output. This shows that Vietnam's pepper processing technology has made great strides, improving production capacity and added value.

However, in the context of free trade increasingly subject to tariff barriers, supply chain transparency and promoting deep processing are becoming major challenges for businesses in the pepper industry.

Dr. Nguyen Ngoc Luan, Director of Lam San Pepper Cooperative (Dong Nai), said that the fact that Vietnam's pepper industry still mainly harvests manually and is not mechanized is not a weakness, but on the contrary, this is a competitive advantage.

He explained that if mechanization is applied, countries with large cultivation areas will easily expand pepper growing areas. However, labor costs in these countries are very high, with harvesting alone costing up to 50 USD/day, making them unable to compete. "Vietnam's pepper maintains its leading position in the world because there are no... pepper picking machines," Mr. Luan said jokingly but with hidden meaning.

According to News-Photo: Ngoc Anh (NLDO)

Source: https://baogialai.com.vn/gia-tieu-hom-nay-15-4-giai-ma-vi-tri-so-1-cua-tieu-viet-nam-post319010.html