The Hindu Business Line : India slips to fifth spot in pepper suppliers' list

Advertisement

Kochi March 7 Though pepper exports have shown a substantial increase of 56 per cent in 2006, the country's position among the top suppliers has slipped to the fifth place.

The fall was due to emergence of Vietnam as the world's top producer and supplier in recent years. In the 1980s and 1990s, the Indian shipments swung between 36,000 tonnes and 48,800 tonnes and, thereafter it started declining.

Huge domestic demand coupled with high cost of production due to poor productivity ranging between 300 and 370 a kg has kept the Indian produce uncompetitive in terms of value in the international market.

When the yield per hectare in other producing countries is somewhere between 1,500 kg and 3,000 kg, Indian productivity never crossed 400 kg a hectare.

Thus, poor yield despite an increase in area under the crop from 1.8 lakh hectares in 1996-97 to 2.24 lakh hectares in 2003-04 continued to keep the output hovering between 50,000 tonnes and 70,000 tonnes.

The ever-increasing domestic demand because of the rise in consumption, both by domestic and industrial units for value addition, has led to a substantial drop in exportable surplus.

Add to this, liberalisation by way of free trade agreements has resulted in increased imports for value addition and re-export. In fact, a tangible part of Indian exports, of late, are that of imported pepper, market sources told Business Line.

With continuous increase in output and negligible domestic consumption Vietnam has been able to export most of its output.

As a result, it continued to dominate world pepper production and export in 2006 by cornering 47 per cent of the total share and strengthened its position as the biggest producer and supplier for the last five years. Vietnam exported around 1,16,670 tonnes or an increase of 21 per cent from last year.

Brazil was the second largest exporter (17 per cent share) followed by Indonesia (13 per cent), India (10 per cent), Malaysia (7 per cent) and Sri Lanka (3 per cent).

The estimated total world pepper exports in 2006 increased by 13 per cent from 221,100 tonnes in 2005 to 248,800 tonnes in 2006. This was attributed to substantial increase in exports from Vietnam, India and Brazil. Exports from Malaysia also increased marginally, while exports from Indonesia, Sri Lanka and others were reported to have decreased.

The overall, exports of black and white pepper in 2006 increased by 14 per cent and 3 per cent, respectively. Black pepper constituted 85 per cent or 211,450 tonnes of total exports in 2006 against 1,85,950 tonnes or 84 per cent in 2005.

More Stories on : Spices & Condiments | Exports & Imports

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
NCDEX plans to prune contract size

Chana futures gain on NCDEX

PNB credit scheme for Kerala farmers

Westerlies to hit northwest back-to-back

Spot rubber declines on global trend

Bumper cane harvest to prolong crushing till May

Smart card for vegetable traders in Bangalore

Vimal Oil & Foods plans FPO, rights issues

India slips to fifth spot in pepper suppliers' list

Pepper futures down on lack of buying support

Workshop on commodities trade

Wheat output likely at 73.5 mt, says Pawar

Sugar output estimate to be revised upwards