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G.K. Nair

Short-supply in global market, quality give a hand

Kochi , Dec. 7

Pepper exports to the US, which had been declining from 2001, have shown a substantial increase during January-September 2006. The shipments of whole black pepper increased by 80.12 per cent to 4,395 tonnes in January-September this year compared with the same period a year ago, according to International Pepper Community sources.

The increase is attributed to the short supply in the world market during the current year coupled with competitive price following the availability of export subsidy from the Union Government. In fact, exports of whole black pepper from India were 7,998 tonnes in 2001 and it declined to 2,039 tonnes in 2004. However, it improved to 3,828 tonnes in 2005.

Superior Quality

India has a large domestic market, which absorbs much of the pepper produced indigenously. As a result, the exportable surplus used to be very thin, while the prices remained at higher levels than that of the international price.

Meanwhile, pepper has been available in large volumes in other origins where domestic consumption has been negligible. However, selected markets in the US preferred Indian MG 1 because of its superior quality, export sources here told Business Line.

Total import of pepper into the US has increased by 5.88 per cent during January to September 2006 compared with the same period last year. During the first three quarters of 2006, the US imported a total of 48,614 tonnes, consisting of 37,496 tonnes of whole black pepper; 5,759 tonnes of whole white pepper and 5,359 tonnes of ground pepper. This is an increase of 2,699 tonnes compared with the 45,915 tonnes imported during the first 9 months of 2005, IPC sources said.

Largest Supplier

Whole black pepper imports by the US increased by 4.84 per cent in January-September this year compared with 35,764 tonnes during the same period a year ago. Vietnam continues to be the main supplier of whole black pepper to the US, shipping 15,108 tonnes, followed by Indonesia with 8,541 tonnes, Brazil with 8,317 tonnes and India with 4,395 tonnes. Imports of whole white pepper have also increased by 15.6 per cent. During January-September this year, the US imported 5,796 tonnes of white pepper, an increase of 777 tonnes compared with 4,982 tonnes imported during the same period a year ago. Indonesia maintains its position as the largest supplier of white pepper to the US market in January-September 2006 with shipments totalling 2,639 tonnes.

However, the position of Indonesia as the largest supplier to the US may be taken over by Vietnam, which supplied 2,022 tonnes of white pepper, followed by Brazil with 373 tonnes. Vietnam, which began exporting white pepper into US in 2002 with a negligible quantity of only 3 tonnes, has significantly increased its exports of white pepper to the US market. In 2003, Vietnam shipped 359 tonnes and during the following three years exports from Vietnam have surpassed 1,000 tonnes annually.

India continues to be the largest exporter of ground pepper to the US. Indian shipments of ground pepper in January-September 2006 stood at 2,306 tonnes compared with 2,271 tonnes in the same period last year.

Pepper Exports

The US imported 5,359 tonnes of ground pepper during January-September, an increase of 3.70 per cent when compared with imports for the same period last year, which was reported to be 5,168 tonnes. Other main suppliers of ground pepper to the US are Germany, Indonesia, Brazil and China.

The Indian exports of pepper to world markets during April-October have shown a significant growth with the country shipping out 13,825 tonnes of the commodity as on October 31 valued at Rs 128.78 crore compared with 8,971 tonnes worth Rs 76.32 crore in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal. Thus, there has been a rise in volume and value by 4,854 tonnes and Rs 52.46 crore respectively.

More Stories on : Spices & Condiments | Exports & Imports

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