Pepper on the move

After a relative quiet and dull season for pepper, the sting seems to be in the tail. We would like to bring you up to speed for the 3 most important pepper exporting countries.

Vietnam
We already noticed that pepper gardens were neglected by the farmers due to the low prices of the recent years. The outlook for 2021 was that we would face a lower crop yield. Mother nature worsoned the situation significantly. Recent heavy rainfall and storms in Vietnam created quite some damage. We have received several reports on land slides in the pepper growing areas. As a result we see buyers stepping in in order to secure requirements. Most active at the moment are Chinese importers of pepper. New crop is still 3-4 months away.

Brazil
In between crops. New crop is expected be delayed by several weeks and foreseen to be ready for shipment in December only. As reported earlier consensus is found in the expectation that the 2020/2021 crop will be substantial lower by about 40% for the same reason as we found in Vietnam: at current price levels farmers have no interest in investing and mainting their gardens on these low price levels.

Indonesia
In Indonesia we have seen the result of poor maintenance this season already. The output for as well black as white pepper was much lower than previous seasons. With relatively high prices compared to other countries of origin, exports were backed by loyal buyers for specifically Lampong and Muntok pepper. However since last week we spot an interesting situation. Chinese importers have stepped up their buying; mainly for Muntok white pepper. Available quantities are decreasing rapidly. Market is firming up fast.

In general we also see the trend of freight rates increasing for shipments from Asia.