Sunday 10 May 2015

Competition Cuts Into Pepper Exports

The country has, of late, been facing a stiff competition from Vietnam in international pepper market. That’s not all. India’s imports from Vietnam had also surged last year. Vietnam accounts for about 30 per cent of the world’s total pepper yield and about 50 per cent of its export volume. The US, the UAE, the Netherlands and India are the leading consumers of Vietnamese pepper.

Meanwhile, International Pepper Community (IPC) data has pegged global production this year at 3,36,000 tonne compared to 3,79,300 tonne last year. Carry forward stocks from last year have been projected at 84,706 tonne.

Global production for next year is estimated to be at 3,74,500 tonne, around 5,000 tonne lower than 2013. Carry forward stocks from next year to 2016 are estimated at 60,386 tonne. Exports next year has been pegged at 2,78,305 tonne against 2,68,755 tonne. At the same time, domestic consumption in producing countries has been put at 1,38,270 tonne against 1,45,540 tonne this year.

The spices board, on its part, has estimated the pepper production in 2015 at 70,000 tonne, comprising 68,000 tonne of black and 2,000 tonne of white pepper. This, of course, has to be seen in the wake of the lower rain forecasts.

Rain and thundershowers have occurred only at isolated places over Uttarakhand, sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim, Orissa, south interior Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Lakshadweep and Andaman & Nicobar Islands. Weather remained dry over rest of the country.

Interestingly, till a couple of month ago, states like Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu experienced bumper harvest. And prices have declined thanks to the bumper harvest in these states. Harvesting has now begun in Vietnam, the biggest producer, and also in Sri Lanka. Analysts pointed out that traders in India are expecting local demand to go up in near future. Traders expect that more buying will happen from the side of industry consumers before the monsoon kicks off.

According to the latest report from Geofin Comtrade, the pepper market was stronger last week, particularly in India. In Indonesia and Vietnam, the market has recovered after experiencing a declining trend observed during last few weeks, according to the recent report from International Pepper Community (IPC).

In Kochi, pepper price increased further by Rs 10 per kg to Rs 585 per kg. In Lampung and Bangka in Indonesia, prices recovered and stood at IDR105,000 per kg for black pepper and IDR 170,000 for white pepper (in Bangka).

In HCMC, Vietnam, local price of black pepper increased by 2 per cent to VND178,500 per kg this week. In Sri Lanka, local price also increased by LKR10 per kg this week.

According to the Vietnam customs statistics, total exports of the spice in 2015 (Jan-Mar) were at 39,560 tonne, down 19 per cent year-on-year. India’s pepper exports during April-December stood at 14,500 tonne, down 6 per cent from the previous year, according to the offered by the spices board of India.

Source:mydigitalfc.com



No comments:

Post a Comment