Hanoi (VNA) - Over the last ten days, pepper prices have fallen from analready low 82,000 VND (3.65 USD) to 72,000 VND (3.21 USD) per kilogramme, butpepper farmers in the Central Highlands continue to hold out for higher prices.

According to the Vietnam Pepper Association (VPA), domesticpepper prices started to decline back in 2016 when pepper farms over-expandeddue to farmers’ anticipation.

Pepper importing countries have receded their pepper demandsto create further downward pressure on prices. 

In 2015 to 2016, pepper prices in the Central Highlandsreached a record high of 230,000 VND (10.2 USD) per kilogramme, making farmersincrease the size of their farms despite warnings from local authorities.

Le Nguyen, a pepper farmer in Thanh Binh commune of Dong Naiprovince, said that his two hectare pepper farm yielded 5.5 tonnes of driedpepper in March this year, but instead of selling immediately, he decided towait for higher price than the 117,000 VND (5.22 USD) per kilogramme back then.As such, after three months, the severe drop in pepper prices trouble himgreatly. “If I sell now, best I can do is break even,” said Nguyen.

Le Van, another farmer from the same commune, said that inaddition to the three tonnes of pepper that he harvested from his own farm, hehad purchased an additional two tonnes at 110,000 VND (4.9 USD) per kilogramme.By his own calculation, the current price will bring him a loss of nearly 90million VND (4,016 USD) on the other additional tonnes alone.

Vo Van Thanh, a farmer in Dong Nai province, said that hewill continue to refrain from selling no matter what, as the price is alreadytoo low to make a profit. He had already sold five tonnes at the beginning ofMarch this year at 120,000 (5.35 USD) per kilogramme, and still has two tonnesin storage.

In general, farmers still have faith that the pepper pricewill rise, in spite of the current lowest price in six years. Many farmersreport that they will continue to stock up on pepper instead of selling to makeeven.

The VPA advised farmers to remain calm and refrain from masssales that would drag prices down. They also advised farmers to sellimmediately when prices show signs of recovery instead of waiting for the 200,000VND (8.9 USD) per kilogramme mark they had hoped for.

Huynh Thanh Vinh, Director of the Agriculture and Rural DevelopmentDepartment of Dong Nai province, said that his department has persuaded farmersto reduce pepper farming areas and connected directly to manufacturers,bypassing middlemen.

Nguyen Huu Phuoc, Vice Chairman of the People’s Committee ofHung Loc commune, Nghe An province, said that in his locality, while onlyseveral merchants are losing big due to wrong predictions of rising pepperprice when it was still at a high from 110,000 to 130,000 VND back (4.9 to 5.8USD) per kilogramme in March 2017, most farmers refuse to sell as they wait forthe price to rebound. At this point they are neither making a profit nor aloss.

According to the Ministry of Agricultural and RuralDevelopment, Vietnam exported about 75,000 tonnes of pepper worth 456 millionUSD in the first four months of 2017. The national total output is about150,000ha, set to produce about 300,000 tonnes of pepper in the next two tothree years.-VNA