World pepper production this year would be less than in 2009, leading to a rise in prices, according to the International Pepper Community (IPC), the inter-government organisation of countries which grow the commodity.
IPC’s members are Brazil, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Vietnam, while Papua New Guinea and Hainan (China) are associates. The secretariat is at Jakarta, Indonesia.
It has estimated world production at 338,000 tonnes in 2009, a 2 per cent rise from 2008. This marginal rise was due to a substantial increase in production in Vietnam; output in Malaysia was also marginally up, while Indonesia, Brazil, Sri Lanka and China reported drops. India and other small producers showed no change in 2009.
Black pepper output rose to 271,000 tonnes in 2009 from 259,000 tonnes in 2008. Vietnam’s black pepper output rose from 80,000 tonnes to 100,000 tonnes last year. Malaysia’s was up by 700 tonnes. The other four, mentioned earlier, showed a combined drop of 8,700 tonnes. India produced 50,000 tonnes of black pepper.
White pepper output fell from 71,800 tonnes in 2008 to 67,200 tonnes in 2009. China reported the maximum fall, from 33,000 tonnes in 2008 to 20,000 tonnes last year. Production in Indonesia also decreased by 4,000 tonnes, while that in Malaysia and Brazil was stable. Vietnam witnessed a bumper crop; production rose from 10,000 tonnes in 2008 to 22,000 tonnes in 2009.
Export from leading producing countries was estimated to rise 12 per cent to around 263,850 tonnes last year (221,000 tonnes black pepper), as compared to 236,490 tonnes in 2008. This was mainly due to substantial increase from Vietnam, the largest exporter. Export from Brazil, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and China decreased. Export of both black and white pepper went up by 12 per cent.
Vietnam’s total export went up 45 per cent, from 89,700 tonnes in 2008 to 130,000 tonnes in 2009. Its black pepper export alone increased 35 per cent to 108,000 tonnes and white pepper by 12 per cent, to 22,000 tonnes.
India, China, Indonesia and Malaysia also imported significant quantities in 2009, either for domestic consumption or value additions like pepper oils, oleoresins and ground pepper, and re-exports. During 2009, an estimated 35,635 tonnes were imported by producing countries, against 23,500 tonnes in the previous year. India was the major importer in this group, importing 14,000 tonnes in 2009, while Vietnam’s import was 10,000 tonnes.
