India still lags Vietnam in pepper exports

Vietnam, the world's largest exporter of black pepper, maintained its overwhelming lead over India in the global pepper market for the eight-month period beginning January this year.

While the country exported 1,01,000 tonne pepper, India managed to ship barely 12 per cent of its total exports at 12,382 tonne in January-August 2006.

While Vietnam's total earnings from pepper exports, according to the country's ministry of agriculture and rural development, stood at Rs 695.60 crore, India could garner just Rs 103.14 crore.

However, India's earnings in the period under review rose by an impressive 28 per cent over the same period last year, while Vietnam's earnings for the same period were almost flat on a year-on-year basis.

Notwithstanding the fact India lags Vietnam by far in the international pepper market, its export performance is improving of late. In the current financial year, the country has so far put up a much better performance in black pepper exports compared with its recent past export numbers. In the first five months (April-August), the country "� while exporting 9,100 tonne at a realisation of Rs 75.95 crore "� managed to post impressive growth of 48 per cent in quantity and 42 per cent in value vis-a-vis the corresponding figures of 2005-06.

Of course, this was despite the fact that the country had availed of the export subsidy scheme (announced in 2005).

For the whole year 2006-07, the country had set an export target of 20,000 tonne, which should fetch Rs 170 crore. However, International Pepper Community (IPC) remains more bullish. IPC estimates put the country's total pepper exports at 22,200 tonne for the current financial year.

Going back to the time when India started falling back, in 1997, the country had exported 37,816 tonne pepper against Vietnam's 23,500 tonne.

But, in the next five years, Vietnam achieved a phenomenal 340 per cent growth in exports. It recorded 78,155 tonne exports in 2002, while India's exports plummeted to 24,225 tonne levels in the same year. While Vietnam has maintained a steady growth in exports, India's exports have continued to slide down.

Vietnam's pepper, exported to nearly 80 countries and territories, accounts for 44.5 per cent of the world's total exports. Further, it meets 33 per cent and 40 per cent of the demand from US and European Union markets, respectively.