Pepper export target to be met by November

Low prices have led to a flood of orders from abroad.

The world will soon be shopping for black pepper in India, thanks to a correction in prices that began since the last week of September.

With the declining prices and overwhelming overseas demand for the spice, a section of exporters believes that the export target of 20,000 tonne will be achieved by November.

India has a large stock of pepper other than Brazil and the current bearish phase in the domestic market has put the country in an advantageous position. The week began on a robust note with many enquiries from abroad, especially from Asia, and Europe and US would follow suit soon, say exporters.

The offloading of long positions in the futures market has led to the price tag plummeting to $3,000 a tonne from $3,300 a tonne a fortnight ago. Importing nations are eyeing India as an attractive choice, given the current low domestic prices.

Currently, only Brazil is offering prices lower than those of India for B-ASTA at $2,860-2,900 a tonne.

However, the Indian spice, with its superior quality, always commands a premium of of $400 a tonne over the Brazilian pepper, said many leading exporters. Hence, a more realistic Indian price tag can open a flood of orders from abroad in November and December, they added.

Vietnam is running short of quality pepper and is quoting $3,200 for a tonne of B-ASTA, while the same is quoted higher at $3,350 in Indonesia.

India's fortunes may prolong up to January and the course of the global pepper market will be decided by the end of January or early February, coinciding with the harvesting of the spice in Vietnam.

A section of exporters is bullish of India achieving the export target of 20,000 tonne by November itself. The Spices Board had announced a subsidy scheme for export last October and set the export target of 20,000 tonne by April this year.

However, India could achieve only 25 per cent of the target. The Union government had extended the scheme until the target could be achieved.

With favourable conditions now, exporters believe that the country could easily meet the target by November.